Page 23 of Fractured Souls

“Well, darlin’, we heard your other daughter came back from, what was it? A stay at the mental hospital? We just thought we'd check in since this is our town and we like to keep an eye on everyone. Noah here is friends with what's the kids name? Harley?” I nod. “Yeah, and he wanted to check on her since I guess she wasn't at school the last three days before break,” Sugar says in that southern drawl that usually melts women.

Tammy blinks at him, then seems to shake herself from his charm. “Oh, well, Harley is out right now visiting some friends. So, unfortunately, you missed her.”

Rage looks ready to say something that can't be good, so before he can, I cut in, “Oh, darn! Well, can I leave her a note with some schoolwork she missed? I can just leave it in her room if you point me in the direction?” I ask with my sweetest smile.

“You can leave it on the kitchen table for her,” Tammy says, starting to look agitated but trying to hide it.

Before Sugar or I can stop him, Rage steps up to Tammy. “What are you hiding? Don't play games with me, Tam. This is my fucking town, and if you are up to something, I will find out.”

"I have no idea what you think I am up to, Rage, but you should be careful with what you say. Wouldn't want another accident like your father to happen, would you?”

"Tammy! That's enough out of you. Go upstairs!" Richard snaps.

We all watch as Tammy storms up the stairs. Once we hear a door slam, we look back at Richard. I personally think he's pussy whipped, but I will say he looks a little tough right now considering he's facing off three deadly bikers. "So, what is it? What are you after? Spit it out and let's deal with it so we can all go back to our separate corners and leave shit alone."

Before Rage can say anything, Sugar speaks up, "Well, Richard, as we said, Noah is friends with Harley. We didn't know you had a third kid and just wanted to check in and make sure everything is okay. We don't want to cause problems, and we ain't lookin’ to get into shit that don't involve us."

Richard nods and looks to be deep in thought before he turns and looks at me. "Friends, huh? What has Harley been saying to you?"

I tilt my head and look at him with a confused expression. "Saying? You do know your daughter is mute, right?"

Richard blanches before pulling it together quickly. "Of course, I just meant writing or some shit, I don't know, however she likes to communicate. Anyways, she is fine. She'll be back at school Monday, so no need to worry about her. Now, I have lots to get done today, so it’s best we be done now."

He walks back to the door and opens it wide. I guess that’s our cue to leave. I glance at Rage and Sugar and see barely contained anger, so it’s probably best we go. I gesture for them to walk ahead of me, and I make sure Richard can't fully see me behind them as I pull the mic out of my pocket and stick it under the table along the wall heading towards the front door. It's not much and will only hear conversations in the entryway and part of the kitchen and maybe the start of the hall, but that's better than nothing.

We head out to the truck we brought instead of our bikes and hop in. As soon as we drive off, Rage lets loose lots of curses. I don't even know if those are all in English.

"What the hell? I feel like there is more going on here than we even know. Why are they hiding Harley? Something is off with this situation with the girl, I just know it. I need to find a way to get her over to the club so I can meet her and feel things out," Rage grumbles.

"Rage, I respect the hell out of you as my president, but kindly as your VP, what the actual fuckin' hell was that shit back there? Since when does our prez not keep his shit together? If the boys are right and they are hurtin' that girl, then you might have just gotten her another beatin'. So whatever the hell is wrong with you, figure it the fuck out and real fast."

I nod my head even though neither of them are looking in the back at me. As much as I want to say something, I'll keep my mouth shut. For now. I may be the club's enforcer, but I know I can be kind of a pain in the ass, and now isn't the time to piss off my prez even more.

“I know. I didn't mean to go off, and usually I don't do that kind of shit, but Tammy just brings up a lot of old memories, you know? Between her being my first love, to the woman who broke my heart and made it so I trust no other women, to then my first kill being around that time and all the awful memories it brought to surface, I just felt like exploding or even strangling her.”

I can only imagine how hard it is to keep your composure when some of the worst things in your past come back up. I know I wouldn't hold it together as well as he does. Adding on to it, his own father was sex trafficking women. That would be a hard pill to swallow.

We soon get back to the club house and as we walk in, we hear yelling and things breaking. When we come into the main room, Cade has Ry pinned to the ground holding him down while two prospects are on the ground bleeding and groaning. I glance around the room to see most of my brothers looking at Ry with a wariness I haven't seen before. Gray is standing off to the side, his face deathly pale.

"What the fuck is going on in here?" Prez commands. Everyone stops and looks at Rage. "If you were not involved, get the fuck out!"

Most of the brothers rush to leave the room. A few brothers, Gray, Cade—who is still holding Ry down, and three prospects stay.

"Someone start talkin' now!" Sugar orders.

Gray steps forward, staring right at Rage. "This is on you."

I swear the room fucking freezes. Grayson Tanner is not one to talk first. He's not one to show anger or hatred towards someone; he's always calm, cool, and collected. It's partially from his childhood trauma, but I think it's mostly just what keeps him centered. Being in the background but still being there and being a voice of reason and calm when needed. But right now, he is looking at my president like he could kill him on the spot.

His voice is dripping with venom as he continues, "Ryker, Cade, and I don't keep secrets. I kept yours because I thought I was doing the right thing. But it's not. I'll take whatever punishment is going to come my way for this, but tell them now or I will."

"Kid, I don't know where you get off thinkin' you can speak that way to Rage but—"

Before he can say more, Gray shocks us all again and turns his death glare to Sugar and cuts him off.Jeez I kinda want to see more of this Grayson… Wait, I'm not supposed to think that."I get OFF, Sugar, by saying that because the last few days have been hell and now I've just watched my best friend drink and cause fights because I can't tell him what I know, out of respect," he spits the word like it tastes bad coming out of his mouth, "for YOUR president. Do I need to remind you why Ryker would react that way when one of his closest friends is keeping something from him?"

Sugar looks a little guilty and shakes his head, sighing.

At this point, everyone looks stunned by all the shit happening, and Ryker is now standing staring at Gray. I decide it's time for me to open my mouth.What? Sometimes I can be helpful."Alright, folks, that was a great show and all." Everyone turns and glares at me.Oops? Wrong thing to say?"But," I drag out the word, "maybe we should all take a beat, okay? Things are stressful right now, but this isn't helping. Ryker, sober up. Gray, go with him. Cade, feel up to coming with me for a job?"

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