Page 39 of Cougar

“Who is it?”

Rambo’s demeanor changes. His face falls, and tears fill his eyes. He can’t believe this either, and it’s killing him that he found out who it is. That we had to find this out at all.

“Bigfoot.”

Storm steps back, and his breath is audible. Bigfoot came on when this club started. He’s been here since day one. Working with Storm and my Dad to bring this club up. To make it something to be proud of.

“That fucking son of a bitch!” Storm seethes. His fists clench, and he’s ready to take off. I grab his arm, pulling him back to me.

“No. You can’t do anything. Not yet. He can’t know that we know. If he finds out, he’ll run. We need to be able to take care of this and fuck him up for everything he’s done. You can’t say shit.”

“Are you forgetting that Audrina was with me? The women are all with her now. If she hasn’t told them already, she will. She’s freaking the fuck out.”

I look at Storm to ask him what he thinks the best course of action is, and something snaps in him. “I won’t say anything yet, Prez, but you have to promise me—I get to be there to make sure that piece of shit never breathes again.” I clap him on the shoulder in agreement. “Good. Let me handle the ladies.” With that, he takes off.

“What do you think he’s gonna do?” Rambo asks.

Before I can answer, we hear exactly what his plan is.

“Hey, ladies! A little birdie told me that Audrina didn’t get a bachelorette party. Unacceptable. Because of the short notice, your stripper is me.” He starts dancing and takes off his cut and shirt, turning around and attempting to twerk on Audrina. She blushes a shade darker than her hair when I hear Rambo.

“Fucking Theo.”

I laugh in agreement, attempting to come off as if nothing is wrong. But when Bigfoot comes out from the barn, I think about everything we’ve gone through and what he’s done.

“Get ready. We give it an hour, maybe two. Let him think everything’s fine, and then we strike.”

“What are we gonna do?” Rambo asks.

“Kill him.”

Seventeen

Knuckles

I watch Storm as he continues to dance for Audrina and the girls. Even though Audrina’s face matches her hair, she’s laughing like this is the funniest thing she’s ever seen in her life. She glanced at Rambo at one point, but his returned smile gave her the okay that she seemed to be looking for. I turn back to the guys and see Rambo and Cowboy laughing as they continue to watch Storm, but all of a sudden, Prez’s face morphs. He’s a completely different fucking person. When I follow his direction, I see Bigfoot coming from around the barn. Why is he looking at him like that? I start to make my way toward Prez. I stop when I come up to a few of the kids who are running around, making it seem like I’m not on a mission to speak to him.

I notice the sun is setting, and the fire is becoming our primary source of light. This means the kids will be returning to the house soon, and it will be only my brothers and their women. I wish Whitley was here. Every day it gets harder to keep him and this life separated. I wish he had more trust in my family when it came to our relationship. None of them care that he’s a cop. But I won’t push him. It’ll happen one day.

When I finally make it to Cowboy, Zombie, and Judge have also arrived. Their eyes scan the crowd. I can feel the tension more than normal from these guys. Don’t think I don’t notice the fake smiles they all have plastered on.

“It’s getting late. I think we should have the ladies bring the kids in for bedtime,” Cowboy says, looking at Bri. They have a silent conversation with their eyes, and she starts to gather up the women and kids.

The music cuts off, and I look toward where the women gathered. As advised, Bri gets them all to head inside. Aletta looks at Cougar, and I watch as he smiles at her. She walks up to him and says hi to the guys before giving him her attention. “I’m heading inside. I’m tired. My feet hurt. I’m fucking hungry again.”

“I’ll be in soon,” he tells her and kisses her cheek. As she walks off, I turn my attention back to Storm. He’s saying goodbye to Natasha. Once she heads inside, he gathers whatever he peeled off and heads over to where we’re all standing, but he changes his mind once he’s at the bonfire.

Cowboy watches all of the women head inside. The rest of us head toward the fire, picking up a chair so we all have somewhere to sit. The adults-only portion of the evening has turned into a members-only portion instead. I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but when Rambo breaks away from Cowboy, I know something is about to happen. He shifts direction at the last second and heads toward Bigfoot.

The door to the main house slams shut, and all hell breaks loose.

They found the fucking mole.

To my surprise, because I honestly thought it was Sever, Rambo smacks Bigfoot in the back with the chair that he was carrying, and when Bigfoot stumbles, Rambo tackles him to the ground. Bigfoot doesn’t go down easily. He’s able to flip himself and get on his back, allowing himself to start throwing haymakers left and right. Storm launches himself up from his chair and jumps right into the pile. Cowboy starts yelling orders at Judge and Willie. Zombie, Gears, Cougar, and I are all lost as to what is going on. I see Turd running to the big house and flying through the kitchen door.

“Knuckles! Help Turd get the truck!” Prez screams at me, snapping me from my daze. I chalk it up to pure shock that Bigfoot is the mole. That a man who helped build this club, fight for those who are nameless, would do something as low as working with The Company. This isn’t the time to wonder, and I get my ass in gear.

Turd races from the house, and I meet him at the big farm truck that has the cap on the back of it. We bring it over to where the brothers have a screaming Bigfoot pinned down. Cowboy’s boot is on his neck, keeping Bigfoot down as he screams at him.

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