Ride the Wind (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation, #8), page 8
Well, this was not going the way I had planned.
Sure I had figured that the Knights were going to be pissed at me, but I didn’t think they would be downright assholes about it.
They could have waited to be dicks until Reese wasn’t standing next to me.
“Wait!” Meg barged into the common room and marched over to me. She looked me up and down and huffed. She kept one arm behind her back while the other pointed her finger right into my chest.
“What is it?” I asked.
“You think you can walk in here and not bring anything with you?”
“Meg,” King called.
Meg dropped her hand from my chest and held up her hand to King. “This has nothing to do with you or the club. This is Meg Business.”
“That’s not a thing,” Hero whispered loudly.
“It is if you are Meg,” Pie chuckled.
“I was supposed to bring something with me?” I asked. I had known Meg my whole life, and I knew she was nutty as hell. She could be asking for a million things right now, but I didn’t know what the hell that was.
“Ransom and Bear did.”
I was sick of hearing about those two. “Well, what did they bring?” I asked.
“Beautiful yellow boxes filled with the best pastries and donuts I had ever had in my whole life.” She moved her hand from behind her back and shoved the box into my chest. “Where is your box?”
I hadn’t seen Meg in weeks, and this was the bone she chose to pick with me. Pure Nutty Meg to the core.
Reese tentatively raised her hand. “Uh, that’s from my bakery, and Zig has one in the sa–.”
“Zig has none,” he interrupted.
Meg snapped her fingers at Snapper. “Check Zig’s saddlebags. He’s holding out on me.”
“Anyone else feel like Meg is the mafia boss now?” Hero laughed.
“She’s been watching that fucking show,” King growled.
“What show?” Luna asked.
“The Sopranos,” Meg smiled. “I totally could have said he was going to swim with the fishes for betraying the family, but I thought that would be a little dramatic.”
“Because telling Snapper to search Zig’s bike is not dramatic at all,” Frost chuckled.
“And it’s sleep with the fishes, Meg. If you tell him to swim with the fishes, it’s like you’re telling him to be a mermaid,” Pie explained.
Meg flitted her hand at him. “Whatever, Pie. I’m not the happiest with you right now because you didn’t tell me Bristol was making cherry pie the other day.”
Pie threw his hands in the air. “She’s always making something, Meg. Your best bet is to call her every morning and see what she’s in the mood to cook.”
“Shut up,” King bellowed. “Son of a bitch. You are all going to make me have another stroke. Fucking hell,” he grumbled. “Get your asses in church, and I swear to god if we get off topic one time, you’re all washing bikes for the rest of your fucking lives,” he threatened.
It was nice to see that things hadn’t changed that much since I had left. Everyone still said whatever the hell they wanted to, and King was pissed off about it.
Home sweet home.
Meg pointed to her eyes and then to Snapper. “Check those bags. I’ll be in my office waiting.” Meg flounced out the door to the body shop and slammed the door behind her.
“Does he know who he’s talking to?” Luna asked.
“I’m more afraid of Meg.” Snapper shook his head. “I’m gonna go check Zig’s saddlebags, and then I’ll be in for church.”
Reese smothered a laugh with the back of her hand. “I think you should have gotten a few more boxes full and brought my car.”
I shrugged. “Maybe.”
“I think we should all just face the fact that we will be washing bikes for the rest of our lives.” Frost stood and stretched his arms over his head. “I mean, if we’re all washing bikes, we’re just washing our own, right?”
“And the OGs,” Easy pointed out.
“Damn straight,” Rigid called. “Mine needs a little shining, too,” he called as he headed down the hallway toward church. Gambler and Slider followed behind him, smug looks on their faces.
“Still,” Frost sighed, “not that fucking bad.”
“How many bikes do you have to wash over at the Sons of Sin?” Luna asked me.
I had never counted before. “Twelve? Maybe thirteen.” I counted each member in my head. “Twelve. Then there is me and two other prospects.”
“Damn,” Hero sighed. “I wish we had three fucking prospects. The ones we had took off and we haven’t seen them in weeks.”
“Probably because they were afraid of getting off just because they were with the club,” Frost chuckled.
Hero pointed at Frost. “But we fixed that problem, so maybe we should start getting some more prospects in.”
“That should be your pitch,” Luna laughed. “We were getting killed, but we fixed that problem so come aboard!”
Pie chuckled and shook his head. “You might want to work on that a little bit.”
Everyone filed down the hallway toward church. Everyone but my dad, Frost and Zag.
“You got plans after church?” he asked me.
I looked at Reese. “I need to get Reese back home.”
“Uh, I’m not in a rush to get home or anything. Maybe I can hang out with Meg or something?” Reese suggested.
There went my excuse to have to leave right away after church. Though, I didn’t have to do anything that I didn’t want to. It wasn’t like I was a member if the Knights and had to do what I was told.
Dad nodded his head. “We’ll talk after church. Your mom is coming, too.”
Jesus Christ. “Can’t wait.”
“Zig,” Reese hissed. “Don’t be rude.”
Zag chuckled. “And he thinks he’s not into this chick.” He shook his head and slapped dad in the shoulder. “Fucking blind.”
“He’s always been thickheaded,” Frost pointed out.
They headed to church and left Reese and I alone.
“Don’t listen to them,” I ordered.
“Don’t listen to everything they said, or just certain things?” she asked.
“Most things.”
“They seem to care about you.”
They did. In their own way. “Sure.”
“You and I need to have our own talk after you have a talk with your dad.”
“About?” I asked.
“About everything,” she laughed. “I feel like I know you, Zig, but I don’t think I know all that I should. We might have to revisit that question I asked before, but you never answered it.”
“I answered it,” I insisted.
She reached up and patted my shoulder. “If you did, then I wouldn’t have fifty other questions to ask after meeting your dad and brothers today.”
“Fifty seems like an exaggeration, and you met Zag the other day.”
Reese rolled her eyes. “You want to lead the way to this church thing, or should I just wander down that hallway until I find everyone?”
I grabbed her hand and laced my fingers through hers. “This way, darlin’.” The weight of her hand felt right in mine. She fell into step next to me, and we walked into church.
Nothing had changed since I had left. Everyone still sat in their same chairs, except my chair wasn’t next to Zag anymore.
The only two empty chairs were next to King.
I didn’t have a place here anymore.
Seeing it with my eyes made that hit home.
I wasn’t a Knight anymore.
My chest tightened, and for the first time since I patched into the Sons of Sin, I felt regret.
I pushed down the feeling and sat down in the empty chairs with Reese. I would have to figure out what I was feeling and what it meant later. After my parents talked to me, and after I talked with Reese.
“All right,” King called. “Why don’t you give us the rundown of what the fuck is going on, and we’ll see if there is anything we can do to help.”
All eyes were on me and Reese.
Reese raised her hand.
Ridge shook his head, and Hero chuckled.
King nodded to Reese. “You’re free to speak, babe.”
“Why do people think they need to raise their hand before they speak when they come in here?” Easy laughed. “Fucking cracks me up every time.” He motioned to Reese. “No offense though.”
Reese moved uneasily in her chair. “Uh, sure. I guess I should be the one to give you the details. Zig is a part of this because of me.”
“Been there,” Hero, Pie, and Zig laughed in unison.
King growled.
Yeah, nothing had changed.
Reese cleared her throat. “So, my friend Kerry talked me into going to a party at the Sons of Sin clubhouse.”
“First mistake,” Luna murmured.
“And she took off with a guy named Brain she had been seeing. I fell asleep in a chair outside, and Zig sat with me to make sure I was safe.”
“Wait, your friend just left you with this guy?” Pie hitched his thumb at me.
“Like, left you without you even knowing she had left you?” Luna asked. “And you called this woman your friend?”
“Yes,” I growled. I could give Reese crap about Kerry, these guys could not.
“That’s not really the main part.” Reese glanced at me. “Zig made sure I made it home, and then when I went to work the next morning, Kerry never showed up. Or the next day. I went to the police station to file a police report, but they didn’t do much because she’s a grown woman who probably just took off without telling anyone, which isn’t against the law.”
“They didn’t even do a welfare check?” King asked.
Reese shook her head. “They did go to her apartment, but she didn’t answer. They had no reason to forcefully enter, so they didn’t.”
“That’s a bunch of BS. You would think the cops would want to check on people to make sure they are safe. Not just do a little knock, and then leave.” Pie glanced at Luna. “Your man punk out like that?”
Luna flipped him off. “Sit and spin, dipshit.”
“Anyway,” Reese called. “When the police didn’t help me, I thought about talking to Brain about Kerry. See when the last time he saw her was, and everything. I didn’t really know Brain, so I asked to talk to Zig to get my foot in the door. Once I convinced Zig to help me, he found Brain dead in his room.”
“Bullet between the eyes,” I added.
“That’s when Ransom got involved. I told him about Kerry, and he saw that it was more than a coincidence that Kerry was missing, and Brain was dead.”
“Brain killed Kerry,” Hero assumed.
“But then who killed Brain?” Pie asked.
Luna shook her finger in the air. “Or maybe Kerry killed Brain, and now she is on the run?”
“We don’t know,” I interrupted. “Ransom is hitting a dead-end. The car isn’t telling them anything, and nothing else is.”
“What about your club?” Frost asked. “Aren’t they trying to figure out who killed one of their members? It obviously wasn’t suicide.”
I sighed heavily. “That is why Reese and I are here. The Sons of Sin aren’t’ doing anything about finding Brain’s killer. Or at least, if they are, they aren’t’ telling me because I’m just a prospect for the moment.”
“Bummer,” Pie chuckled. “You couldn’t pay me a million dollars to be a prospect again. Fuck no.”
“Same,” Frost, Hero, Zag, and called in unison.
Luna held up her middle finger and swiped it back in forth. “Screw you all. Maybe you should remember that when you are dicks to me just because I’m a prospect.”
“Right,” Pie drawled. “You asked for this.”
“Focus,” King thundered.
“They were doing so good,” Slider laughed.
“Maybe when they’re our age they’ll be able to focus.” Rigid suggested.
“Hell,” Gambler chuckled. “I don’t even think we focus like we should.”
Reese glanced at me.
I could take it from here. “So, the reason we are here is to see if you guys could maybe help us find out what the Sons of Sin know about Brain, and if maybe they know what happened to Kerry.”
“It is fucking insane that your club isn’t doing anything about Brain, or for Kerry who was last seen at their clubhouse.” Luna sighed. “They should be the ones turning over every stone until they find whoever did this.”
And that was what I thought, too.
“How are we supposed to get information from your club?” Rigid asked.
I cleared my throat. “I was thinking since King was able to talk to Ram about me joining their club, that maybe he had some open communication with Ram that he could use.”
“Ram is a dick,” King growled. “I don’t know how that club even exists. All the dickhead talked about the whole time was himself.”
That was pretty accurate from what I had been seeing from the Sons of Sin.
Luna’s phone dinged.
“Seriously?” King asked. “You know to mute that shit or don’t bring it to church.”
Luna pulled out her phone and frowned. “It’s Ransom. He said he’s on the way over.”
“Fucking great,” King growled.
“What the hell does he want?” I asked,
Luna tapped out a message and shrugged. “I just asked him why he’s coming.” Her phone dinged with a new message. “Uh, he said he’s got DNA back from Kerry’s car.”
“Oh my god,” Reese gasped.
Rigid tipped his head to the side. “But why is he coming to us with it?” he questioned.
“Did you tell him Zig was coming over today?” King asked Luna.
Luna nodded. “It might have slipped my lips.”
King growled. “You think maybe you could leave club business to the club, and not clue the cops in on everything we are doing?”
Luna saluted King. “From now on I will give Ransom the club business bullshit line. I know how much my aunts love that line.”
King growled. “We will wait to see what Ransom has to say before we agree to do anything for you, Zig.”
“I wonder what he found,” Hero wondered. “Was whoever took her stupid enough to leave evidence?”
“I would assume so,” Rigid murmured. “If it wasn’t something that can help find whoever took her, I don’t think Ransom would be coming over.”
King pulled his phone from his pocket and swiped. He put it to his ear and growled, “Hello?”
Frost smugly glanced at Luna. “I guess you’re the only one who didn’t mute their phone.”
“I guess you’re the only who didn’t mute their phone,” she mocked. “You can kiss my ass, Frost.”
Reese leaned into me. “It doesn’t seem like anyone really likes each other,” she whispered softly.
I couldn’t help but smile. As someone looking in from the outside, you would think that the club didn’t like each other. It was actually the complete opposite. Everyone just had a really odd way of showing it.
Sarcasm was a love language of sorts around the clubhouse.
“Uh, you’re wrong. It’s hard to see, but everyone really cares about each other.”
“Strange way to show it,” she mumbled.
A knock sounded on the door, and Reese jumped.
“It’s just Ransom,” I chuckled.
Ransom walked into church with a file in his hands and Bear on his heels.
“Are those two always together?” she asked.
I shrugged. “I mean, not really, but also yes. Ransom and Bear used to be cops together in Denver. Ransom stayed with police work when he moved to Rockton, but Bear decided to catch bad guys a different way.”
Rigid leaned into Reese. “He’s a bounty hunter, and I can hear every word you are saying.” He winked at Reese. “And everyone is just a bunch of sarcastic assholes, but we don’t really mean anything that we say.”
Reese gasped and clutched her hand to her chest. “Uh, okay?”
Ransom stared at Reese and cleared his throat.
“What is going on?” King asked. “I hope you have some good information if you’re barging into church without an invitation from me.”
Ransom pushed his sunglasses on top of his head. “I know you think I enjoy coming to your little meetings, but I would rather be doing my job then being here.”
“That’s cause Luna just tells him everything we say,” Hero mumbled.
“Just fucking get to it,” King growled.
Ransom opened the folder in is hand. “The DNA from Kerry’s car came back. There was no trace of anyone else on the outside of the car expect for Kerry.”
“Thank god you barged in her like you’re god to tell us that,” Pie laughed.
“The inside is a different story.” Ransom cleared his throat. “There were a few different DNAs and trace fingerprints on the passenger seat, but nothing that could lead us back to someone who would have harmed her.”
“Most likely just people she had given rides to,” Bear explained.
“What about the driver’s side or even the backseat?” King asked.
“The driver’s side tells a whole different story.” He glanced at Bear. “There was one set of DNA on the passenger side, and two sets of fingerprints.”
“Well, get to it,” Hero grumbled. “Who’s were there?”
“Kerry,” Ransom glanced at King. “And Easy’s.”
“What?” Easy jumped up and slammed his hands on the table. “What the hell do you mean my fingerprints are in her car? I haven’t even met the chick before or been in her car.”
Ransom shrugged. “Your prints are on the steering wheel and the seat belt.”
“Who picked up the car?” I asked. Easy’s prints could have easily been in the car if he had been the one to pick it up with the car hauler.
Ransom shook his head. “Pie was the one who had grabbed it. We didn’t find a single print from him, though.”
“How the hell does that make sense?” King asked.
“Uh, well,” Pie cleared his throat. “I always wear gloves when I pick up cars. You never know what the hell you are going to come in contact with.”
