Page 45 of Devil's Dilemma

“Yes, I just need somewhere to put my underwear.”

He tenses slightly as men sometimes do when a woman’s unmentionables are brought into the conversation.

“The bathroom’s through there.” I nod. Same layout as Skull’s room, perhaps a little larger. The bed, itself, is massive, but then Pyro is a big man.

“Right.” He’s stopped busying himself. “Okay then. I’ll leave you to get settled.”

All of a sudden, I don’t want him to go. “What happens now, Pyro?”

His hand rakes through his hair. “Jeez, Mel, I wish I could tell you otherwise, but all we can do is wait. Cad and the others are still working their magic. Hopefully they’ll turn something up, or not. Once they’ve searched everywhere, if they don’t find him, it’s a good sign. Might mean he’s holed up with a friend.”

“Or someone’s holding him.”Or there’s a body to find that hasn’t been discovered yet.But I don’t voice that fear aloud.

Pyro slowly nods. “If they are, I’ll put money on it that it wouldn’t be long before they make contact. I mean, without someone stepping up and taking responsibility, it sends no message and makes no sense.”

Chapter Fifteen

Pyro

“It makes no fuckin’ sense,” I slam my hand down on the table. Sure, I’m feeling irritable. Five nights sleeping on the all too small couch in the clubroom will do that to a man. Now the brothers attending our normal Wednesday church are bearing the brunt of it. “He’s been gone over a week, and we’ve found no fuckin’ trace. Neither he, nor anyone else has made contact.”

“Hate to say it, but the obvious answer is he’s gone dirty side up and is lying in the bottom of a ravine somewhere,” Lizard comments, the corners of his mouth turned down.

“Our search parties have found nothing. Skull is a good rider,” Thunder observes.

“Could have been oil on the road, an animal run out. Accidents happen, Brother,” Mace counters.

“Or it could have been fuckin’ deliberate,” offers Buzzard.

“That doesn’t make sense either.” Prez wipes a hand over his tired face. “Someone wants a Devil dead, they’d step up and take responsibility.”

Wasn’t that what I just said?Truth is, we’re going around and around in circles, making no headway at all. I’ve been out enough times trying to find signs of an incident anywhere an unreported accident might have happened. A damaged guard rail, debris on the road. Anything I’ve found I’ve stopped and investigated. Trouble is, there are miles and miles of road where Skull could have upended his bike, we don’t know which direction he was headed. There’s always the possibility that however eagle-eyed we try to be, we might miss something. At the end of the day there’s an empty seat around the table that should be filled. That I find unacceptable.

“It’s fuckin’ worrying he hasn’t used his credit or debit cards at all. Would he have had much cash on him?”

Trust our treasurer to think of the money trail.

“Who the fuck knows?” Thunder leans back and folds his arms. “If he’s staying with a friend, maybe he isn’t paying for anything.”

“Before anyone asks, his phone’s not come back to life,” Cad puts in.

“How’s Melissa coping?” the VP asks, his brow furrowed as he too tries to work through the conundrum of Skull’s continued absence.

“She’s being brave,” I tell him. “I think the fact she’s pregnant is helping her through. She’s trying to be strong and doing the right things for the baby. She’s got an appointment with Vi’s OB/GYN arranged.” Mel had decided to tell everyone she was pregnant, Vi’s advice apparently. It had been good advice too. Everyone would have supported her as I’d already told her, but knowing she was carrying a Devil inside had somehow made all the brothers more protective than they would otherwise have been.

Demon’s nodding. “Good. It gives her something to focus on. I’ve asked Violet to get her involved with Theo, talk about baby shit. Anything to keep her mind off where Skull could be.”

“How long are we going to be on lockdown, Prez?” I glance at the person who asked the question. I swear Hellfire gets a glint in his eye when he refers to his son with that title. As if he’s pleased he’s no longer got the responsibility of sitting at the head of the table, and proud he raised a son good enough to be voted in in his place.

Demon glares, a hidden message of ‘ask me something easy, will ya?’ then rubs at his beard. “How’s everyone managing?” He sees the look on my face, then grimaces.

“Mo’s complaining. Wants to get back to her yard. Reckons she’s got plants needing watering.” Hellfire raises his hands in awhat can you dogesture when the mention of flowers brings snorts.

“Well send a fuckin’ prospect to do it,” Prez snarls. Followed up with, “It poured down yesterday, how much water do fuckin’ plants need?”

Hellfire shrugs.

“Sindy’s fine. Long as she gets out to do her job, she’s happy enough.” Buzzard’s wife is a receptionist at our auto-shop. Prospects are on a rotation taking the old ladies to work. Mel started back a couple of days ago, but I’ve been following her myself.

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