Page 44 of Hell & Back

“What are you going to do with this information?” Lance asked while smothering his pancakes in syrup.

“Seriously, dude. What’s up with all the sugar?” Tulsa cut into his steak and veggie omelet, shaking his head.

“Oh, right,” Lance countered. “This coming from the guy who eats any baked goods not tied down whenever the old ladies cook at the clubhouse. We all have to race you in there if we want any.”

“All right. That’s enough, you two.” Jed tried to head off the argument he saw coming. He couldn’t believe he was beingforced to play referee to these two knuckleheads. “Back to the business at hand. Jackson thinks Sadie will be back in town about the time we finish up here. I’m going to her house to confront her and find out what she knows.”

“And where do you want us?” Lance asked around a mouthful of pancakes.

“How about you guys hang out down the street and keep an eye out for any Phantoms?”

Tulsa dipped his head in agreement. “Sounds good.”

The rest of their meal went on with discussions about which sweet butt they wanted to fuck when they got home, how they couldn’t wait to ride their bikes again and making bets on who was going to be taking Crockett out.

JED

Jed knocked on Sadie’s front door and waited for her to answer. He knew she was there because he’d seen her pulling her car into her garage as he circled around back to park in the alley.

He heard the locks turning right before Sadie pulled the door open. Normally, she greeted him with a warm smile, but today her smile was tentative and she had to work at hiding her frown. “Jed? What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” She stuck her head out far enough to look up and down the street. Was she looking for someone or was she trying to hide something?

“Had the day off. Aren’t you going to ask me inside?”

“Oh, yes. Come inside.” She swung the door wider and waited for him to come inside.

Her gaze followed his to the overnight bag Jackson must have been talking about sitting on the recliner.

“Going somewhere?” he asked.

“Oh, no. Just got back actually. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll take my bag back to my room?” She didn’t wait for his answer as she grabbed the bag and hightailed it down the hall.

No way was he having a seat while she tried to hide what was inside her bag. He followed her down the hall, his steps quiet on the carpet. He pushed the partially shut door open, allowing him to see Sadie trying to stuff the bag under her bed.

“Whatcha doin’?”

“Ahhhh!” she squealed and clutched her chest. “Holy crap, Jed. You scared the shit out of me.”

He looked at her then dropped his gaze to the bag and back. “You trying to hide something?” He tipped his head to the side.

“Um. No. Just putting the bag under my bed because I don’t have room in my closet,” she explained as she got to her feet. She moved closer to him either to draw his attention away from the bag or to try and get him to back out of her room.

“Are you a part of the Phantoms? Are you someone’s old lady?” Jed was tired of beating around the bush. He needed answers and he wanted them now. No more games.

“No,” she replied as if insulted that he’d even ask.

“Don’t lie to me,” he warned her.

“I’m not lying,” she crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her hip. It was the universal language of all females around the world signaling she was getting pissed.

“Then why do you go to the Phantoms’ clubhouse all the time?” He took a menacing step toward her. The way she suddenly tensed, she hadn’t expected him to ask that question. She hadn’t expected him to know that she went there. She dropped her arms and fisted her hands at her side, defiantly remaining silent.

He moved swiftly, his hand going around her throat. He spun her around and backed her into the wall. There. That got a response out of her. For just a brief moment he saw a flash of fear in her pretty green eyes, not brown. It was there and gone so fast he could have imagined it. The tilt of her chin was the only sign that he hadn’t. Her hands went to his wrist, trying to pull his hand off her throat. Finally, realizing that he was serious and he wasn’t letting her go anytime soon, she caved.

“I’m not a part of the Phantoms,” she growled. “My brother was.”

“Was?” Had her brother left the club? He couldn’t see them letting anyone walk away and still live.

“He’s dead.” The pain in her eyes was real and he felt like a total shit for causing her pain despite the fact that she could very well be another spy in the Sons’ midst. “He was killed in an accident. He was on his bike, it started storming and a drunk driver hit him. The driver drove off and left him there to die.”

---