Page 39 of Hidden Desires
Blade dropped down on the floor next to Ace and passed him a cooler.
“Thanks. I feel like I’m fifteen,” Ace said sarcastically, taking the vodka and sugar-based drink and shaking his head at Blade.
Blade chuckled. “What? I know how much you like your fancy drinks.”
Hating that the man could make him laugh with something so stupid, Ace elbowed him in his ribs, almost causing Blade to spill his beer.
Given the limited space in the room, everyone sat there ass wherever they could find a solid surface. For Ace and Blade, that was on the floor between the television and the bathroom. For Lucas, that was the tiny table pushed against the wall—Caden sitting in the chair right next to the table, of course. Always his protector.
“Thank you for coming, Marcus. I don’t know what else to do,” Chester muttered. His hands were folded in his lap, and his shoulders were slouched forward.
“You’re a brother of the Vipers. You made the right call. We’re going to find out what happened to Steven and make whoever murdered him pay for what they’ve done,” Marcus pledged, taking a seat beside the man on the bed.
“Thank you.”
“Now, how about you walk us through what you know?” Marcus asked, rubbing his hand across his buddy's shoulder.
Ace picked up his tablet, ready to begin taking notes. Somehow, he had taken on the role of “biker leader’s assistant” and didn’t even realize it.
“Four nights ago, Steven got a phone call while we were all out for dinner. He said he had to take care of some business and asked if we could drive his girlfriend home. The next morning, his girlfriend called us all in a panic, screaming that Steven never came home that night. Yesterday, I got a phone call from the police, saying that they found my son outside an abandoned diner.” Chester began to sob.
Nikolai handed him a tissue before resuming his spot, leaning against the wall.
“Thank you,” Chester sniffled, using the tissue to blow his nose. “The animal who did this sliced up his body like he was trying to remove his skin. Then the asshole left a knife sticking out of my son’s eye! Who does that? What kind of deranged monster slices up someone, then dumps his body like a piece of trash?”
Marcus crushed the empty can of beer he had been drinking.
“A dead monster.” He glanced over at Ace, who nodded in agreement.
“I promise you, Chester. We’ll find whoever did this and make them pay for what they’ve done to you and your family. I promise you that.”
“We all do,” Caden and Nikolai said, both at the same time.
Ace glanced over at Blade, who was staring down at the carpet. His arms rested over his bent knees as he held his glass of whiskey by its rim.
He appeared deep in thought, staring through the fibers of the dirty carpet.
He wondered what was up with the normally cheery weirdo. He seemed too intense and serious to be Blade.
Perhaps his body had been taken over by some body snatcher, and he was now sitting next to a personalityless pod.
Ace glanced over at the table covered in drugs. He didn’t recall Nikolai setting out any ketamine, so Blade couldn’t be stuck in a K-hole.
He had a friend who used to use the dissociative anesthetic, and he used to hate being around him when he did. The drug was basically a horse tranquilizer that sometimes caused people to become so relaxed and spaced-out that they went into what was commonly called a K-hole, a state of consciousness in which the person felt trapped and unable to move.
The other side effect that always scared Ace was the hallucinations. He had been sleeping over at his buddy's place once, when his friend woke him up in a panic, convinced that his drug dealer was on his way to kill him. It had taken Ace a few minutes to realize that the threat was all in his friend’s head and that their lives were not in any danger.
Thankfully, Blade was not using the retro drug.
“Hey. You okay?” Ace asked, nudging the man with his shoulder.
“Hm? Yeah, I’m chill. Just pissed off for this dude’s son is all.”
Considering Blade really didn’t know the man and his son, he wondered why Blade was taking this so hard. Chester’s membership with the Vipers was mostly before Ace’s and Blade’s time. He barely remembered Chester himself.
That was the thing about being in a biker gang; you were a brother for life, and brothers stuck together.
“Okay, so here’s what we’re going to do. Cade, you and Lucas are going to go chat with the police and see what they know. Nikolai, you hit the streets and see what you can find out. Ace, Blade, you two work the evidence and see what we can come up with.”
