Page 35 of Colt

17

Ember

It was a warm, beautiful day for late November. The bright sun and blue sky were in complete contrast to my mood. Looking down at my all-black ensemble, I couldn't ignore what was happening today. I couldn’t believe we were sitting here at Fitz’s funeral.

I’d dressed simply in a short-sleeved, black, knee-length dress, and Colt’s patch, like most of the women in the club. I didn’t bother with makeup this morning because I knew my tears would ruin it before the service even started.

I looked around the funeral home and was shocked by the vast number of people present to pay their respects. All of the club members from Las Vegas were here plus large contingencies from the other chapters. There was a mix of old ladies and children, club girls, and several people from the community as well. I even recognized one of the police officers from the hospital. He wasn’t in uniform and didn’t appear to be on the job, but you never could quite tell if they were conducting some sort of surveillance.

I was sitting just a couple of rows back from the front, directly behind the ones reserved for the Las Vegas guys, between Kate and Meredith, a place of prominence. It felt weird to be sitting with Viking’s wife, sons, and daughter, but since Colt was the VP, this is where his old lady would sit. But I knew I didn’t belong here and wished I were sitting with the other women behind us.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Kate whispered next to me, echoing my thoughts from earlier.

“I know,” I whispered back, trying to wipe a tear away discreetly.

Meredith leaned into me. “He really liked you, you know?”

“I liked him too. He was a great friend.” I couldn’t bring myself to say more because this was already so hard on everyone.

We watched as people continued to file in even though all the rows were filled and several others were standing in the back. Once the room reached capacity, the service began. A giant sob caught in my throat, but I tried to keep a tight rein on my emotions as I watched Viking, Colt, Mac, Wolf, Viper, and Hawk carry Fitz’s casket to the front. When the guys moved back to their seats in the front row, I caught Colt’s eye for a fleeting moment. He seemed surprised to see me sitting with Meredith and Kate. I wondered if my prominent position angered him. Before I could read more into it, he turned away and sat down.

The officiant started speaking, but I didn’t pay much attention. Instead, I kept replaying my last moments with Fitz over and over again in my head. I was trying to pick up on anything from that morning that would help us, but as hard as I tried, I just couldn’t come up with any clues.

From what we were told, the police hadn’t found much during their investigation so far. There were a few bullet casings and a couple of skid marks, which they figured belonged to the car the assailants escaped in, but nothing else. There were no eyewitnesses, and Metro had scoured over traffic cameras, but the car was stolen, as well as the plates, and faces of the occupants in the car were hidden. They’d even worn masks, sunglasses, hats, and gloves to hide their physical features.

As the service wrapped up, Viking stood to make an announcement. “We’re going to have a barbecue in honor of Fitz back at the clubhouse. Fitz would want us celebrating his life instead of sitting around and acting like a bunch of miserable assholes.” That got a small chuckle from the crowd. “You all are welcome to join us.”

Some of the old ladies arranged to have the barbecue catered. That allowed everyone who wanted to attend the funeral to do so instead of staying behind to prep. It took a while for the funeral home to clear out. When we finally made our way outside, I searched the crowd for Colt. He told me this morning that I would ride with him to keep up appearances. When I spotted him, he was huddled with Wolf, Mac, and Hawk. They seemed to be in deep conversation, and I didn’t want to bother him.

I walked around the side of the building, looking for a quiet spot where I could relax for a few minutes and try to clear my head while I waited for everyone to finish up.

“Damn, it’s been hard to get you alone,” Torch said, causing me to jump.

Scared to be alone with him, I searched for a way to escape. “I was just heading back over to Colt,” I said, making a wide arc around him.

Unfortunately, he was still able to reach out and grab me. “Look here, bitch. I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but I told you not to screw me over. Then you go and make the biggest mistake you could. You’ll pay for this. Or maybe Ice will pay for it. I know a few people in jail with him. One phone call is all it would take.”

“Please don’t do that. I’ll do anything.” He wasn’t bluffing, and I needed to buy some more time before he followed through on his threat.

“What good are you to me when you’re fucking that asshole?”

I thought for a moment before an idea came to me. “You asked me to get some info on their club. It wasn’t working before, but now I have an in. I can get you what you need.”

I didn’t know what else to do. Viking and Colt were doing everything in their power to solve this mystery. Now was my opportunity to do the same and not mess this up.

I tried to pull my arm free, but he held on tighter. I knew he would leave bruises that I would have to cover up later. “How do I know you’re not playing me?”

“You threatened James. I’ll do anything to protect him. You should know that better than anyone.”

“If you so much as—” But before he could finish his warning, we were interrupted.

“What’s going on here?” someone asked from behind me and the breath I didn’t realize I was holding whooshed out of me.

This time Torch allowed me to break free from his tight grasp, and I walked over to my new favorite person. “Colt’s looking for you,” Viper informed me, and then looked back at Torch. “I suggest you stay the fuck away from Ember if you know what’s good for you.”

“Fuck this. The dumb bitch is more trouble than she’s worth.” Torch walked away without acknowledging whether or not we had a deal.

I grabbed ahold of Viper as he made a move to go after Torch. “Thank you, but don’t go and make things worse.” As an officer of the club, he knew what was at stake and where we needed to keep our focus.