Page 30 of A Wrench in the Plan
Before we rode to the beach, he’d called Seven, the Prez of the Indiana chapter where The Bloody Jokers had been hanging around. The only thing Seven could give us was that he hadn’t seen many of them around the last couple of days, but he knew there were some of them still in the area. He was sending members out to ride around and track any of them down. But the thing was, we weren’t one hundred percent sure that it even was The Bloody Jokers behind this. It was just a hunch. One that made a lot of sense, but still, we couldn’t say for sure.
“Um, I have an idea,” Row said, stepping up and taking a second to sneer at the dead body. LT regarded her with a nod. “You’re not gonna like it.” LT narrowed his eyes this time but stayed silent. “I could call Agent Palmer.”
At this, LT’s whole body went tight. His shoulders drew back, and I swear he got two inches taller as his spine snapped straight. If looks could kill, Sparrow would be dead.
Yeah, suggesting we get involved with an FBI agent was not a smart move. Especially not one that had already messed with one of our own, and in the process, led to Row finding out some deep family secrets. One that had shaken the family, the trust.
“I know!” she tossed out quickly, hands in the air like she was trying to show she wasn’t a threat. “But hear me out, okay? He’s been following these guys for a while. He’s been trying to bring them down. So if anyone can help us, it’s him. He would likely know where to find them.”
LT glanced at Mouse. Then at B-ry. There was a silent question there, to which they seemed to have silently answered back. When his gaze turned on me, I felt a little frozen in place. But suddenly, I got that question.
What do you what to do?
And I silently answered back.
Anything to save them.
With a respectful nod at me, he turned his attention back to Row.
She held her ground, chin high and not an ounce of fear in her eyes as she waited.
“Call him,” LT finally said, sounding like he’d choked those words out through a throat that had just swallowed glass. There was an odd mix of certainty and anger in those two words.
This was the first moment that I ever truly feared LT. And I also grew a whole load of respect for him.
I’d never been so sure of wanting to be a part of this club as I was in that moment.
Because it took a great man to do something that went against every bone in his body in order to protect and save his people.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Cat
“Hello, Cat.”
His voice slithered up my spine like a snake. I closed my eyes, squeezing them tight. I couldn’t look at him.
This was not the man I dated. He had the same face, the same eyes, but that was it. It was so night and day that I would have sworn he was my ex’s twin. How had I been fooled by him? How had I missed the signs?
I had my knees pulled up to my chest, face buried between them. If I could have crawled into that black space between my knees and disappear, I would have.
Chry had moved around some, trying to get free, but it was completely useless. I even tried to see if I could slip my ankle out of the rope, but all I’d ended up doing was cutting up my skin, and with my hands zip-tied behind my back, there was no hope of getting the knot undone.
We’d both given up a while ago. We hadn’t spoken a word to one another since he promised he’d get us out of this. I wished I could believe him, but I wasn’t seeing a way for us to escape. Maybe giving up hope wasn’t the best thing to do, and while I hadn’t completely surrendered myself to what was to come, I did know myself pretty well. I didn’t fight. I never even thought something like this would happen to me, so of course I never imagined how I’d escape it. And Chry, well, he was not only outnumbered, but he was hindered on top of that. He couldn’t use his hands or his feet. There really was no way around it… we were trapped and at the mercy of the man who’d just walked into the room and his men.
Dustin’s boots pounded against the floor. The sound pulled me back into the moment that I wished so badly would turn out to be a nightmare. At least if it was one, I could wake up. I couldn’t help but let my curiosity win out as he walked right on by me. I opened my eyes and turned my head to follow his steps until he got to a small desk in the far back corner of the room. His hand gripped the top of the metal fold-up chair that sat in front of it. The legs scraped along the cheap floor as he dragged it behind him. I jumped when he slammed it down in front of me.
“I’d ask if you missed me, but then you’re the one that broke things off, so I’m going to assume ya don’t,” he said as he took a seat and leaned over to get in my face. His tone was so cold it had me shaking.
His hand wrapped around my face, fingers digging into my cheeks. My legs slipped down as I tried to use my feet as leverage to get away, but it was useless. I wished I could say I didn’t cry, but I wasn’t strong enough to hold back the tears. I was scared. Beyond that, I felt betrayed. This was not the man I knew.
I slowly pulled in air through my nose, trying really hard to get my racing heart to calm down. That was when it hit me… the familiar scent that I’d smelled on the beach had been coming from him. Whatever soap he used clung to his skin, leaving those light traces a familiarity behind. Why had it taken me so long to figure that out?
“Hey, Shart!” Chry yelled out, causing Dustin to sneer as he slowly turned his head in Chry’s direction.
“It’s Shark,” he corrected coldly.
“Nah, I think it’s Shart. Got a problem there, old man? Having a hard time controlling your bowels when you fart? I gotta say, that’s a terrible road name. Might make me think that my fellow brothers are laughing at me.”
