Page 50 of Ryder's War

“Or the tributaries that eventually empty out into the ocean,” Darkness added. “I know the rules, Devil. You fire one shot toward the shore, and I won’t be givin’ a big shit about the rules.”

“Always got to be a hardass, don’t ya?”

“Goodbye, Devil. Safe journey back to where you came from,” Darkness said dismissively.

“Fine, catch you on the flipside, freak.”

Watching the now angry man climb onto his boat for the last time, Ryder noticed how disorganized their crew was. They were undisciplined, practically tripping over each other and fighting over who was going to drive the speedboat. Devil wasn’t a strong leader, and it was a constant source of amazement how the man managed to hang onto the gavel.

But maybe that was the point. Sometimes, survival meant being flexible enough to bend instead of break. Strong men broke, but sneaky ones lived to scheme another day.

Ryder just shook his head. “I think we should have put that money in a college fund for your little one and give the lot of them a dirt nap.”

Darkness nodded. “I considered that option but decided it was a bit too risky. Cops investigate missing persons. They might not give a good goddam about bikers in general, but if that many turn up missing along with a woman, they’ll comepoking around. What with the kid, the insurance policy, and me filing divorce papers, it wouldn’t take even a stupid cop long to put the pieces together.”

“Yeah, I know the paper trail was pretty tricky on this one. Devil got off easy.”

“Ain’t never easy when you gotta drop a body. Tell me Ratchet’s body is gone,” Darkness said, his dark eyes fixed on the water.

Mirroring his stance, Ryder said, “He’s in the cage we used to bring Abby. Cork’s standing guard.”

“You know how I feel about killing.”

“Don’t start getting superstitious, D. The guy was not going to stop, and he had it coming a thousand times over. You know his corner of the world is better off for having him out of it.”

Shoving his hands though his hair, the man practically vibrated with anxiety. “It worries me that Devil wasn’t more freaked out about us dropping his old man. He didn’t even ask for the body.” Swiveling his heated stare at Ryder, Darkness’ lips drew into a firm line. “Wanna take a guess about why that was?”

There could only be a couple of reasons for that. One, in particular, worried him. “Shit. I’ll double check the body for tracking devices.”

“See that you do, Ryder. All in the hell we need is for Devil to figure out where we’ve been dumping bodies. He could blackmail the shit outta us.”

“I’d never let that happen,” Ryder said firmly. “That’s the thing with Devil. He may not be all that smart, but he is sneaky as hell.”

Darkness shrugged. “If you don’t have brains, you gotta compensate. I tend to let my paranoia run wild where that man’s concerned, and I have to say that I ain’t been disappointed yet.”

Ryder sucked in a deep breath, done with this conversation. “Let’s get the hell out of here. You head back to the clubhouse, and I’ll take care of this situation with Ratchet.”

“I trust that you will, brother.” Staring at him, Darkness lifted his chin. “Can you believe I have a daughter?”

“Only because I saw her with my own eyes.” Slapping his president on the shoulder, he grinned. “She’s the cutest baby I ever saw. Best get home to her and put this night behind you.”

“It feels strange to have someone special waiting for me.” Darkness swallowed thickly, and Ryder watched his Adam’s apple slide up and down his long throat. Darkness was twitchy and nervous as hell in general, but the look on his face was a new kind of anxiety. Sure enough, whenDarkness spoke, his voice was filled with down-to-earth, old-fashioned worry. “It makes me wonder what’s gonna happen to her the night I finally get my card punched.”

“I see what you’re driving at,” Ryder said. “We lead a life rife with danger. I reckon you gotta pick godparents.”

Darkness stared at him blankly. His brows slowly creased as the silence spun out between them, as though he was trying to work out what godparents were. Was it even possible that his intelligent club president didn’t know about things like that?

“You know, someone to look out for her in case anything happens to you,” Ryder clarified. “It’s a big decision. Think about it for a few weeks. Any brother would be proud to raise your little one.”

Pulling back a little, his expression disbelieving, Darkness spoke candidly. “You think so? Kids are a huge responsibility.”

“Hell yeah. I gotta say, it’s my job to keep you alive and coming home every night, so hopefully, she’ll never need them to take over for you. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“I know that’s true. The people we deal with can be volatile.”

Walking over to the tuck, Darkness watched while Ryder fished through the dead man’s pockets. He pulled out a wallet with no money, a keychain, pocket change, and a rock.

Darkness suggested, “Check his keychain.”

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