Page 23 of Roughstock
When I looked back at the food, I realized she had made Trent’s favorite dinner and I had to hug her again. Cooking wasn’t my favorite thing to do, even though I was good at it. And having so many people love my ol’ man as much as I did made me emotional. I leaned back, and Ms. CeCe wiped under my eyes and patted my cheek.
“Are you okay?” CeCe asked, and I shrugged.
“I guess everything is okay,” I admitted, and she placed her hand onto my lower back, guiding me to a seat at the table.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve been dealing with. I know it’s been hard on everyone losing Nitro, but I imagine you and Trent have suffered more than the rest of us,” CeCe reasoned, and I took a deep breath before blowing it out.
“I just wish we knew who did that to him so we can move past it.”
“Your ol’ man is a good President, and I know he’ll figure it out. Just . . . don’t let him bring all the club drama home. This was the one place Nitro didn’t do club business, and he didn’t want the line between home and club to get blurred.”
“Thanks, CeCe,” I replied, and she smiled at me before turning and walking out the side door.
She wasn’t one to overstay her welcome, and I knew they wanted to get the ranch hands fed before going back to theclubhouse. No one was going to stay there tonight so they wouldn’t get snowed-in, so I was sure they wanted to get everything closed up and get home.
Something outside the window caught my attention, and I walked to the back door and opened it to see a few snowflakes floating through the air, landing on the ground. The temperature was dropping and the wind was picking up, and soon, a few flakes turned into millions. I pulled my sweater across my chest as I stepped back inside and closed the door.
After re-covering the food, I placed it into the oven on warm before returning to the living room. I picked up my e-reader before taking a joint out of the little box and sparking the end. I didn’t usually smoke, but Mr. Quincey’s words kept replaying in my head as I blew out the acrid smoke, allowing its euphoric effects to overtake my body.
I stubbed it out and leaned back in my chair as I turned on my e-reader and tried to get lost in the book again. After reading the same paragraph three times, I gave up and placed it on the table next to me.
Staring into the flames of the warm fire, I thought about how Nitro could have come across missing girls.
Where were they missing from?
Where were they now?
Who took them?
And why wasn’t the news screaming about it every second of every day?
The more I thought about it, the more questions I had until, finally, I had to stop. My brain was hurting, and the fear of something ominous coming grew with each passing second. Whoever was responsible for Nitro’s death could be huntingfor anyone who’d try to stop them, and I feared someone else we loved would become a victim of the madness before we figured out who it was.
Chapter 14
Roughstock
Ifollowed Jagger and Phantom back to the clubhouse and in my rear-view mirror as Whistler and Blur rode in the opposite direction. I shook my head at the bullshit I heard from Blur when I walked out to meet everyone. It took everything for me to not pound his ass into the ground, and Phantom stayed between me and him just to be safe.
“Why should we give a fuck about some missing bitches? It’s not like any of us have them.”
He was always a prick who was a thorn in Pops’s side, and I still didn’t know why he rides with a restricted patch. I let the cold air cool my temper as we rode the eight miles around to the clubhouse. There weren’t too many good days of riding left, so I wanted to enjoy the freedom of being on the bike before I crawled into my truck for the next couple months.
As we turned into the parking lot of the clubhouse, I saw CeCe and another ol’ lady backing out of a space to leave. I threw up a hand to them as they pulled onto the road and away from the clubhouse. A few bikes were parked outside, and I needed Phantom to remind whoever was still here that they needed to get home. The clubhouse wasn’t the type of place they wanted to be stuck at if the snow blocked them in for a few days.
When I parked my bike next to Jagger and Phantom, I cut the motor and climbed off. Looking up, I noticed a few snowflakes were starting to fall. Turning to the brothers, I said, “Let’s get this finished and the clubhouse emptied before it really comes down.”
We walked inside and the silence of the club was strange. This was where the Bastards partied, held Church, and spent the majority of our time, so it being close to empty, without music or conversation, was a little eerie.
Phantom looked behind the bar to Comet and said, “Clear the bedrooms upstairs and send everyone home. I want this place ready to shut down in twenty minutes.”
Comet gave him a middle finger salute with a chuckle before stepping out from behind the bar and walking to the stairs. I motioned for Jagger and Phantom to follow me into my office. We left our cell phones on the table outside the room and closed the door behind us.
We all took a seat, and I scrubbed my hands down my face before I leaned back in my chair and looked across at them. “Please tell me you’ve found something.”
“When you messaged earlier, I did a quick search of Rapid City and the surrounding area,” Jagger started and shook his head before he rested his forearms on his thighs and leaned forward. His gaze was filled with pain as he looked up at me and said, “It’s bad, Trent. Really bad.”
“How bad?” I inquired, and he sat back before glancing at Phantom.
