Page 30 of Devil's Dilemma

I nod. That’s right.

“Don’t see this has anything to do with Skull going, Prez,” Pyro states. “If he’d known, maybe, but he doesn’t. Surely he’d have hung around to find out?”

“It was worse this time though. His reaction, I mean.” I might as well tell them everything now. “He asked me again to take the morning-after pill and again said it wasn’t the right time. It sounded like it was even less so than the time before.”

Demon’s eyes sharpen. “He tell you why?”

“Club business,” I snarl the word. The excuse that works for these men every time. “He let me believe it was something to do with the club. That was all I could understand, that something external was putting pressure on him. I thought we were in a good place. He’d claimed me, we’re in a stable relationship. We both agreed we wanted kids. Okay, so maybe it’s still early for us, but at least on my part, I’m all in.”

Beef nods, I catch the movement out of the side of my eye. “I’d have said that too. He seems to care a lot for you, Mel.”

“After… it… happened that night, he’d walked out. Took a phone, presumably to make a call. Stayed out until the morning. But that was two weeks ago. Since then we’ve been fine. I’m sure that’s got nothing to do with this.”Could he have left because he was scared I was pregnant?I really don’t believe so. Maybe if we knew for certain, but even then, the man I know and love would have stayed.

“He took a phone.” Demon’s brow creases. “Right. I can get Cad to look at his phone records and see who he spoke to then. Might be a friend we don’t know about who he’s reconnected with.”

“Someone he stayed with when he left for that month?” Pyro suggests.

“Could be, Ro. Could be.”

Their comments mystify me. I hadn’t known he’d left the club at all, must have been well before I met him. “Why are you talking about a call he may or may not have made two weeks ago? That’s got nothing to do with his disappearance now.”

Demon stares at me for a second, then sighs. “Mel, look, we don’t know what’s relevant or what’s not. There’s a man who isn’t where he should be, so we’ve got to figure out where he may have gone. You might not have expected the man you know to walk out on you, pretty damn sure I speak for everyone here to say they’d feel the same. Sure, we may be grasping at straws, but let’s think this through. Maybe he went to stay with someone. Maybe he bumped into an old friend and has gone on a bender. You ever meet with or hear him mention being close to anyone outside the club?”

Shaking my head, I tell him, “No. If I did, I’d be contacting them myself. He said he had no family at all.”

There’s a knock at the door. Demon calls out, and Cad steps in. For a second, I wonder whether he’s summoned him by some kind of power of thought, but it seems Demon’s already got him on the case.

“I’ve checked police reports and hospitals in the area. No mention of him or his bike. Not saying he didn’t have an accident, but if he did, it was out of town. I can widen the search but would be useful to know where I’m looking.”

“Cad, Skull called someone. Early hours of the fourteenth. Can you check who? It’s possible it could be his go-to for advice.”

“Will do, Prez.”

Cad steps back out, closing the door behind him.

“That’s the place to start,” Beef comments. “Friend you call in the dead of the night is probably someone you make a beeline for when you want to get your head on straight.”

“Melissa, you’re looking concerned.”

I am. Nothing makes sense. “I’d say you were right, Demon, if he’d been upset when he left. But he wasn’t. It was just like he was setting off for a normal day at work. There was nothing unusual in either what he did or said.”

Pyro chuckles behind me. “Men are strange beasts, Mel. Sometimes we don’t let the wounds show in case they’re seen as a sign of weakness. We just retreat and lick ‘em in private.”

Could it be as easy as that?

The door opens again, and once more Cad pokes his head around it. “Skull made or received no calls at all between six pm on the thirteenth and noon on the fourteenth.”

“Sorry,” I admit, having led them on a wild goose chase. The fact that he left with a phone didn’t mean he’d used it. Just took it in case.

“Okay, Melissa,” starts Demon, “I’ve brought church forward by a few hours so I can get the boys together. We’ll thrash things out and take it from there. You’re welcome to stay here at the club or go home. If you want company, I’m sure Vi will be happy to stay with you until we’ve got word.”

If something’s happened to Skull, something bad, the time I’ll need support is when we know. For now, I’d rather be at home where he’ll expect to find me if he comes back.

“I’ll go to my place, Demon. I’ll be fine. I might have worried you for nothing, and he’ll turn up tonight.”

“Tell him to get his ass here if he does,” Demon, no,the president,snarls. “No member walks off and disappears without explanation.”

Oh no. Because I’ve opened my mouth, Skull could very well get into trouble. But what else could I do? My man’s missing and has been for four days.

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