Ride the Wind, page 5
“Well, you found me, so now you can get back to doing your job.” I motioned to the door.
“Do you know what happened?” Reese asked. “Like, can you tell that someone killed him, or did he kill himself?”
“Uh, most people don’t shoot themselves between the eyes when they off themselves, babe. Kind of impossible.” Ransom nodded to the door. “Someone killed him.”
“Oh my god,” Reese gasped.
Ransom pointed to Reese. “Did she know the dude or something?”
I shook my head. I might as well just get the whole story out. Reese had been saying it in pieces that weren’t easily put together. “Reese came to the clubhouse two nights ago for a party with her friend, Kerry. Kerry hooked up with Brain and left Reese asleep outside.”
“That’s kind of shitty,” Ransom interrupted.
“I said the same thing.”
“That’s not the issue,” Reese called.
She was right. “So, I happened to be around and kept an eye on Reese while she slept. I took her home, and now her friend hasn’t been to work since the party.”
“And Brain is dead,” Reese added.
“Saw that, babe,” Ransom chuckled.
“But Kerry did not kill, Brain. She wouldn’t do anything like that.” Reese glanced at me. “Zig told me I shouldn’t say that, but I needed to let you know.”
“Uh, Zig was probably right, babe.”
I shook my head and ran my fingers through my hair. “But you don’t have to investigate that because I saw Brain yesterday. Kerry went missing before he wound up dead.”
“You sure about that?” Ransom asked.
I wasn’t sure about any of this shit. “Seems logical.”
“You guys got cameras around here?” Ransom asked.
“You should probably talk to Ram about that. I don’t know much.” I shrugged and hitched my thumb over my shoulder.
Reese glanced at me. “Why don’t you know much?”
“He’s just a lowly prospect, babe.” Ransom winked. “He’s good at washing bikes and ordering pizza.”
“And Ransom is just a washed-up detective who tried to be in an MC, but King told him to fuck off.”
Ransom flipped me off, and I returned the gesture.
Reese looked from Ransom back to me. “Uh, I sense that there is a lot of tension between you two.”
“We’re fine,” we growled in unison.
“I’m going to get back to Brain’s room. Give all your information to Zig. I’m probably going to need to talk to you if I can’t pinpoint what the fuck is going on around here,” he told Reese. He turned his gaze on me. “And you know I’ll talk to you again before I leave.”
Ransom walked out and headed back to Brain's room.
“What am I supposed to do about Kerry?” Reese asked.
I shrugged. “Let the cops handle it, darlin’.”
“Is your club just going to let the cops handle Brain?”
Probably fucking not. Ransom could try to figure out who had killed Brain, but I would bet my last dollar that the Sons of Sin were going to find the killer before anyone else. “I’m sure we’ll work with the police to find who did this.”
Reese sighed. “I feel so helpless.”
“You’re doing what you need to. I know Ransom sort of brushed Kerry to the side, but I know he will help you find her.”
“That’s nice words for a guy whom you seem to hate.”
“My relationship with Ransom is complicated.” As was my relationship with anyone connected to the Devil’s Knights. “I may not get along with him, but he’s good at his job.” I grabbed a scrap of paper and scrounged around for a pen. I handed them both to Reese. “Write down your name and number. I’ll get it to Ransom before he leaves.”
She grabbed the paper and scribbled her name and number. “Are you sure there isn’t anything else I should be doing?”
There wasn’t anything she could do. “Just try to keep remembering anything you can about that night.”
Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. “Fine. I guess I should get going.” She looked up at me. “You’ll let me know if you find anything out about Kerry?”
I wasn’t going to find a damn thing out about Kerry because I wasn’t going to go digging somewhere I didn’t belong. “Yeah, darlin’.”
“Fine,” she sighed. “Uh, thank you, and also sorry about your friend.”
I nodded. Brain hadn’t been a close friend, but he was the one guy in the club I talked to the most. It was going to suck not having him around anymore.
“Bye, Zig,” she whispered.
I walked her out of the clubhouse and out to her car.
I should give her my phone number in case she needed anything, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be that guy for her. If I was that guy for her, she would be more than what I want.
“Just call Ransom at the Rockton police department if you need anything,” I advised. I didn’t want to leave her without any help. If she did need something, I knew that Ransom would help her.
“Oh, uh, okay.” She smiled softly and ducked into her car. I slammed the door shut behind her and tapped the roof. I stepped back and watched her back out and out of the parking lot.
I hoped that was the last time I would see Reese, but something told me this was the only beginning.
Fuck.
*
Chapter Nine
Reese
“Your change is two seventy, and please take a flier.” I nodded to the stack of fliers on the counter next to the tip jar. Kerry’s pretty face was plastered on each piece of paper, along with her description and a plea to help find her.
It had been five days since she had disappeared, and there was still no trace of her.
I had left multiple messages with Detective Ransom, and he did return each and every one, but he always had the same answer for me.
Nothing.
Kerry had just disappeared into thin air, and no one could find her.
Kerry, her phone, her purse, and her car were just gone.
Did she just decide to run away and start a new life?
Did someone abduct her?
The possibilities of what had happened to her were constantly going through my mind, and none of them were great.
“Hey,” Blain called as he walked out through the swinging doors. “Jill said she just left the copy place and made another five hundred fliers.”
Jill had been making fliers since she heard that Kerry was missing. I had tried to contact the news, but so far, I hadn’t gotten a call back from them. “Good. The stack at the counter is getting low. I also plan on hanging some after work.”
“Jill and I will help you.” Blain wiped his hands on his apron and smiled sadly. “We’re going to find her, Reese.”
God, I hoped so.
Each day that went by made my hope dwindle a little bit, though.
“Shawna and Taz from the bookstore are going to come, too.”
The bell above the door jingled, and a mountain of a man walked through with Detective Ransom behind him.
“Oh no,” I whispered. I craved to find out information about Kerry, but I also didn’t want any information because I was afraid it would be news.
Ransom was wearing dark wash jeans, a black button-down shirt, tan boots, and a gun at his hip. He pushed his sunglasses on top of his head and glanced around.
The man with him was almost half of a foot taller, bearded, and wearing a black and white flannel button-down. He also had a gun at his hip, but he didn’t look like he had that gun because he was a cop. His gaze was directly on the bakery case.
Ransom was good-looking, while his friend was rough around the edges but in a very, very good way.
“Fuck,” his friend growled when they reached the bakery case. It was half empty, but there was still an impressive array of pastries and cupcakes. “You know I can’t walk out of here without bringing something home to Greta.”
“Hell,” Ransom laughed. “Luna told me I’m not allowed in the house unless I have a cake and some pastries with me. She looked this place up before I left.”
“Then you know I need to bring Greta something. Luna will tell her I was here, and then there will be all hell to pay.”
I cleared my throat and moved behind the case. “Hello, Detective.” I wanted to ask him directly what he was doing here, but I held my tongue. Maybe he had some information for me, and then I could also make a little fortune off Ransom and his friend.
“Hey, Reese. How are you today?”
“Ask me in about five minutes after you tell me why you are here,” I laughed nervously.
“Your day should be damn good if you’ve got the talent to make food this good-looking,” the giant friend grunted.
“Just came to talk to you about a couple of things. Ever since Zig mentioned you owned a bakery; I’ve been wanting to drop in.” He nodded to the case. “So far, I am not disappointed at all.”
“You’d have to be blind to not be impressed.” His friend pointed into the case. “Are any of those crème filled?”
I stepped back and slid back one of the doors. “I have crème-filled bismarcks, and then I also have a crème-filled croissant.”
“Bro,” his friend drawled.
I grabbed the tray with the bismarcks and placed two on a plate. I put the tray back into the case and held the plate out to Ransom and his friend. “You can have these if you tell me why you’re here and who your friend is.”
Ransom nodded to his friend. “That’s Bear, and maybe we should talk somewhere more private.”
“No,” I whispered. Wanting to talk in private was not a good thing.
“It’s not that,” Bear grunted. “We just need to talk.”
“I can handle the front. Head in the back if you want,” Blain volunteered.
I nodded stiffly and motioned for Ransom and Bear to follow me. I brought the plate with me and pushed through the swinging doors. I set the plate on the work bench and moved to the other side. “Tell me what’s going on.”
Bear grabbed one of the bismarcks and took a huge bite. “Fucking hell,” he moaned around a mouthful of crème and fluffy dough. “I would tell you I’m the fucking King of Mars if you keep feeding me these.”
My bismarcks were damn good. “Best in the state.”
Ransom moved the plate in front of him. “Don’t fucking touch mine.”
“Then you better fucking eat it,” Bear grunted. Bear reached for Ransom’s, but Ransom smacked his arm away.
“Fuck you, man. I can’t talk to Reese with my mouth full.”
Bear shrugged. “Add that to the reasons why I’m glad I’m not a fucking cop anymore. I can eat donuts and interrogate people; you can’t.”
“Uh, you can eat first if you want.” Though I did really want to know what he was doing here. “Or, honestly, I don’t care if you eat while we talk.”
Ransom shook his head. “I can eat after.”
I wiped my hands on my apron. “So?”
“We found Kerry’s car. At least, it matches the description. The plates are gone, and the vin was scratched off.”
Bear licked his fingers. “Someone doesn’t want us to know whether or not that’s Kerry’s car.”
“Isn’t there some other way you can know if the car is hers?” I asked.
Ransom pointed at me. “You. I thought maybe you could come with us, and you might be able to better tell us if the car is hers.”
“Me?” I was going to be the one to tell them if it was Kerry’s car?
“She’s your friend, right?” Bear asked.
I nodded.
“You work with her, which means you see her daily, right?”
I nodded again.
“So you have to know her car, right?”
“A dark green Taurus.”
Ransom picked up his donut and took a bite.
“That’s the car we have at Knights Garage.”
“Knights Garage? Where is that?”
Ransom set down his donut and licked his finger. “Garage over in Rockton. It’s sitting there waiting for a tow.”
Bear chuckled. “I still find it funny as fuck that King told the cops to get fucked when they ask him to tow it to Brayton.”
“That’s because the police chief here popped Rigid for expired tags ten years ago. The judge took him to the fucking cleaners. The Devil’s Knights do not like Brayton.”
“Why don’t we wait until the car gets towed here?” I asked. None of this was registering with me.
“Because the sooner I get a positive ID on Kerry’s car, the sooner I can figure out where the hell she is. This could be the break we are looking for if this is her car.”
I pulled the tie on my apron and pulled it over my head. “Then what are we standing around here for? Let’s go see the car.” If my saying that the car was hers meant, we would be closer to finding her; then I was ready to go.
“Uh, can you leave?” Bear asked. “Who is going to make and sell all the good shit?”
Ransom held up the rest of his donut. “You and I will buy out the rest of her case, and then she can close up shop.”
Bear smiled wide. “Right on, brother. I like the way you think.” Bear looked around. “You got a big ass box or something, babe?”
“You don’t have to buy everything. Blain can take care of the counter. He’s doing it right now.”
Ransom finished his donut. “Let me rephrase that. We’ll buy you out, so you might as well close up now.”
Bear pushed through the swinging doors and hollered for Blain to box everything up.
“You don’t have to do this,” I sighed.
Ransom balled up the napkin I had put the donuts on and tossed it in the garbage can. “I don’t do anything because I have to, sweetheart. I’m a cop, and I do the right thing. Your friend is missing, and it’s my job to help find her.”
“But this isn’t even your job. You’re only in Brayton because we don’t have enough cops.”
Ransom shrugged. “Just means even more that this is where I’m meant to be. Luna hates that I’m hiking my ass to Brayton, but she gets it.”
“I’m gonna owe Luna a lot, aren’t I?”
Ransom chuckled. “Probably, but I’m pretty sure you can just pay her with oatmeal raisin cookies and donuts. She’ll be more than happy with that as compensation.”
I laughed and motioned to the swinging door. “Let’s get that big box Bear wanted to be filled up, and then we can go check out Kerry’s car.”
Hopefully, we will have more answers and fewer questions.
*
Chapter Ten
Zig
“Come again?”
Ram popped the top on his beer and chugged back half of it. He lowered the can and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I said I don’t care.”
“You don’t care who killed Brain?” I had to be hearing him wrong. It had been four days since Brain’s death, and not one damn thing had been done to try to figure out who had killed him.
A few of the guys had cleaned up his room after the ME had hauled off his body, then it was like nothing happened.
“You don’t care who killed Brain?” I asked.
Ram shook his head. “No. He probably had his hands in some shit he shouldn’t have, and he got what was coming to him.”
“But you don’t even know that,” I pushed back. “There is a murderer out there, and you don’t fucking care.”
Ram shrugged. “I don’t care because I know that I’m not doing anything that will get a bullet between my eyes.”
I had to be careful of what I said. I was still a prospect, after all. I had been hopeful that I wasn’t hearing anything about Brain’s killer because I was just a prospect, but that wasn’t the truth. I wasn’t hearing anything about Brain’s killer because there wasn’t anything going on.
Ram and the Sons of Sin didn’t care that he was dead, and the Brayton police department didn’t care either.
What the hell kind of MC was this that didn’t care that one of their brothers was murdered in the damn clubhouse? Fucking hell. There had been a murderer here, and no one cared.
“No one is curious how it happened? Or how we didn’t hear it happen?”
Ram grunted. “No one cares, Zig. You stick your nose out trying to find his killer, and you’re bound to get your head cut off.”
That was the warning he had for me? Ask about Brain’s murder, and I was going to get married? Hell, that was more of a threat.
I had somehow come from a club that was constantly helping everyone to one that didn’t even care when one of the members died.
What the hell had I signed up for?
My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see Ransom calling me.
Maybe he would be able to tell me something about Brain’s murder. My prez sure as hell wasn’t any help.
I connected the call and pressed the phone to my ear. “Yo.”
“You busy?” Ransom asked.
I glanced at Ram. “No.” Ram wasn’t worth my time if he was going to nothing about Brain.
“I got your girl following me to Knights Garage?”
He what? “Hold on,” I muttered. I moved down the hallway to my room and closed the door behind me.
“You there?” Ransom called.
“Yeah, yeah, I’m here. What the hell are you talking about you have my girl?” I didn’t have a girl. Never really had, and sure as shit didn’t have one now.
“Reese?”
Fucking hell. I knew I hadn’t seen the last of her. “She’s not my girl.”
“Whatever the fuck you want to call her, brother,” Ransom laughed. “I was just calling to tell you she was heading to the garage.”
I legit didn’t know what the fuck Ransom was walking about. “Why the hell are you guys heading to the garage?” I asked.
“The Knights found her car, and they have it at the garage,” Ransom explained.
“Why the hell isn’t it at the impound?”
“Because you know Rigid and Brayton police have beef. King isn’t going to do anything for that asshole. We’ve got about an hour before the tow truck from Brayton gets to Rockton.”
