Page 54 of Devil's Dilemma

We say nothing more until we reach the compound, and I tell her I’ve got to get back to work. It isn’t a lie or excuse, but I’m using it as one. I need space, before I say something I might later regret, or, inadvertently, hurt her.

Some hours later I walk into church. Having lost myself in fixing an exhaust on a bike that didn’t want to be fixed, having to concentrate on nuts which didn’t want to be turned and screws that didn’t want to be screwed into the right place, I arrive almost to the dot of when the meeting should start. I’m the last one to take my place.

“Lockdown?” Hell queries before Demon can begin the meeting.

Demon seems to ignore him as he doesn’t immediately leap to answer. Instead, in my view, he starts in the right place.

“First item on the agenda, any news about Skull?”

From all around come shakes of heads. No one has seen or heard from him, and none of our searches have borne fruit.

“He’s dead.” Rusty shakes his head sadly. “No other explanation.”

“We’ve had no word from anyone. No reason for him to have been taken, and no reason for him to have left. Makes sense he was worried about the situation with his ol’ lady and wanted to get things straight in his head. He must have known it would be soon she’d take the pregnancy test, maybe he wanted to get himself in a space where he could trust himself to have the right reaction. Whatever the result.”

I nod at Thunder, how he’s put things together sounds right.

The sergeant-at-arms continues, “He could have been mentally working things through, lost concentration as he rode. That makes more fuckin’ sense than anything else. He wanted revenge? We’d have known about it by now, but there’s been no threat to the club. Someone else out to get him? Unless it was personal shit from outside the club we’d have heard, and if it was personal, we’d have to suppose the result is the same and he’s dead.”

“That he hasn’t been found yet, doesn’t mean he won’t be eventually,” Beef agrees. “I think we should call off the search parties. We don’t know the direction he went. Hate to say this, but even if we’re on the right road, we could be passing straight by him. If he came off his bike and was injured, trapped, after two-and-a-half weeks, he has to be dead.”

Cad nods slowly. “He’s still not accessed his money. Man needs dollars to live. Much as I hate to say it, we won’t see Skull again.”

Beef takes the floor back. “We don’t normally deal with the cops, but in this instance, Prez thought we needed to. We reported him missing.”

Much as I don’t like involving the authorities, Skull wasn’t doing anything for the club, and from what I know of him, wouldn’t have been carrying drugs on his own time. Cops find him, at least we’ll know. Though they’ll probably be looking for a body.

“Doubt they’ll do much.”

I tilt my head toward Lizard. I, too, don’t have much faith in them putting themselves out for a member of a biker club.

“Nah,” Thunder clearly agrees.

Prez is taking it all in, you can see by the focused way he watches each speaker. When it seems brothers have said all there is to say, he pinches the bridge of his nose, then says in a tired voice, “I tend to agree with Cad, that we won’t see our brother again. I can’t see how the club could be in danger, so lockdown is raised.” Hell breathes out an audible sigh of relief, but Demon continues, “We still need to be vigilant, but people can go home to their own beds.”

“What about Mel?”

“Goes without saying, Ro. She’s welcome to stay here or go home. Whatever she feels most comfortable doing. We’d support her in any event, but especially so seeing as she’s carrying our lost brother’s baby.”

“At least you won’t be getting any more stiff necks.” Mace grins at me.

“Have to say, Ro. I thought you’d be sharing your bed with her by now.”

What the fuck?I turn to glare at Ink, who shrugs.

“You are getting pretty close to her,” Lizard backs him up. “What’s all this about you going to her doctor’s appointment with her?”

I bang my hands on the table. “She needs someone. Skull’s gone. I’m just stepping up for a brother.”

“Are there death benefits like prison ones?” Judge asks.

“You’ll get a fuckin’ death benefit if you carry on,” I warn him. “You’ll get dead.”

“Nah, I think it’s a good question,” Hellfire puts in. “If Skull was in prison, someone could step up and see to his woman’s needs. And pregnant women can certainly have them, if you know what I mean.”

Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard pregnancy hormones can make a woman horny. But that’s an old wives’ tale, isn’t it? Though Hell might know what he’s talking about, Mo’s had three kids.

Are they saying they’d give me the go ahead to fuck her?My dick perks up at the thought.

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