Page 18

Piper

I read the message again. Rattler and Deuce had managed to intercept the guys who ran the bus off the road.

One was dead -- he’d pulled a gun on the bikers and paid the price.

Self-defense was a reasonable argument in court, but I doubted it would ever come to that.

They’d taken the second guy prisoner and were headed to the pen with him.

I suppose I should have been horrified at the casual mention of murder, self-defense notwithstanding, but it could easily have been Jose or one of the other guys in the band lying dead on the road, so it felt justified. That guy wouldn’t run any other innocent people off a rain-soaked highway.

As for the guy who was still alive, I knew in my gut that interrogation was just a fancy word for torture until he spat out whatever information he had.

If he was smart, he’d give everything up right away.

I had the feeling Ace wasn’t a guy to be toyed with, and like his dead partner in crime, this guy had deliberately run a bus full of people under the protection of Riptide MC off the road, endangering their lives. He didn’t deserve mercy.

I wondered if Drake had any idea what kind of hornet’s nest he’d stirred up when he put that hit out on me.

Hawke and Thor both muttered as they stared at their phones, and Beast moved his back to reply to the message. The three of them lifted their heads at the same time, exchanging a look I didn’t quite understand.

“Time to get on the road.” Beast tucked his phone back into his pocket and motioned me to stand.

Hawke and Thor nodded, getting to their feet. “We’ll get to the rally point with you and see how Ace wants to play this. We don’t think Drake knows where you are, but no point in taking chances.”

“They targeted the bus because they thought I was on it, didn’t they?” I looked from one biker to the other.

“Yeah, they did.” Beast took my hand. “But it’s not your fault so don’t go there.”

He was right. This one was squarely on Drake’s shoulders. I looked around the cabin, trying to focus on something else. “Shouldn’t we clean up a bit first? Someone left it in great shape for us.”

“That’s why we have prospects.” Thor grinned. “They get to do the grunt work. We need to move fast, before Drake realizes we have one of his minions.”

Beast packed what little we had back in the saddlebags and Hawke held the door open so he could wheel the bike back outside.

They didn’t waste any time getting organized.

Within minutes, we were back on the road with Hawke in the lead and Thor bringing up the rear.

I clung to Beast’s back, feeling right at home.

I’d probably spent more time like this in the past weeks than anywhere else.

Except in his bed maybe. We definitely spent a lot of time there.

* * *

Before long we pulled up in front of a hotel with my father pacing across the entranceway. Beast stopped and let me slide off before he followed Thor and Hawke over to the side where a number of bikes were parked in a row.

“I thought I’d lost you!” My father grabbed me in a bear hug before I managed to get my helmet off. “Ace said Beast wasn’t responding to calls or texts, and what with the bus getting run off the road…” His voice trailed off.

“I’m fine. The storm. It cut off cell service.” I wriggled in his tight grasp, and he immediately loosened his arms slightly, but he didn’t let go. I could get used to this. It was kind of nice having my father worry about me.

“I thought you’d be safer over on this side of the country. I was wrong. Damn, was I wrong.”

“Made sense, Dad. Really. What doesn’t make sense is why Drake is so intent on having me killed. I just can’t figure it out.”

“Well, he picked a fight with the wrong guy.” His words hardened to a steely edge.

“He wasn’t on our radar before, but he is now.

Every club he owns. Every casino. Every bar.

Every betting syndicate. I will take them apart one by one, and I’ll make sure he knows why.

” He looked over my head. “That would be if your man there doesn’t take him apart piece by piece.

He’s not known for his pacifist nature when it comes to things he cares about. ”

I turned my head and saw Beast stalking toward us. “He’s not my man.” It was an automatic denial, but even as the words left my mouth, I realized it was a lie.

My father looked skeptical, but didn’t say anything, releasing his grip on me as Beast came up to us.

“Ace inside?”

My father nodded. “Just waiting for you three to get back.”

“There’s four of us,” I pointed out.

My father looked at Beast.

“You’re not part of Riptide. When it comes to strategy and attack plans, we’re a team.

Have been for years. You’re welcome to come along and listen.

This is about you, after all,” Beast explained.

“But you’re the target which means we need to keep you safe while we take care of the threat.

Plus, I need to focus, and I won’t be able to do that if I’m worried about you. ”

That made sense. I didn’t want Beast to get hurt because he was worried about me instead of focusing on what he needed to do.

Between the bikers, the guys from the band, and the operatives from the Bureau, the top floor of the hotel had been taken over. One room was reserved for the war council. A whiteboard and a huge monitor took up one side, and a scary looking bunch of men lounged around the room on chairs and sofas.

Beast fit right in, and I made sure I kept as close to his side as possible. The atmosphere in the room was tense, and these guys did not look friendly.

My father introduced me and explained the situation so far.

Maps were drawn on the whiteboard, wiped out and redrawn.

Pros and cons were discussed, and a plan was formulated.

The men were divided into teams. A group they labeled the cleaners was going to take care of the truck and the dead thug.

Another group would help with the retrieval of the bus and comb the area for clues.

It seemed like an awfully convenient set up with the hoodlums in the truck knowing exactly where to be when the bus came by.

The largest group was waiting in reserve, ready to spring into action once the prisoner spilled his guts.

They discussed sending a delegation to Las Vegas to deal with Drake directly, but since no one was sure of his whereabouts, it was decided to put that part of the plan on hold until they had more information.

By now, he’d know his plan had failed and he’d be expecting retaliation.

Beast, Hawke, and Ace were heading back to interrogate the guy they’d captured. I offered to go with them, but Beast quickly squashed that idea. I was to stay put, with Thor and my father along with a couple of the Bureau guys to protect me. Until this was over, I wasn’t allowed to leave the hotel.

I wanted to object, especially when they used the word “allowed.” I didn’t like being told what to do, but it made sense. I was the one with a price on her head. If I ventured out, I’d endanger myself and everyone who came with me.

* * *

Beast

I was not happy leaving Piper behind. She hadn’t been out of my sight since I’d picked her up in San Diego.

I didn’t want her anywhere near when we interrogated the prisoner, though.

It was one thing to know it was going to be ugly.

It would be something else to see or hear what we might have to do.

The prisoner was dead no matter what. He’d targeted my woman.

His only choice was how hard that death would be.

Ace understood my reluctance to part from Piper, but he’d already given me the pep talk about her being safer where she was. Thor and a gang of Bureau agents, including her father, would provide more than enough protection to keep her safe.

Hell, even Piper understood, although she didn’t look any happier than me. Kind of made me feel better, knowing she didn’t want us to be apart.

The trip back to the clubhouse was somber. We rode straight through at speeds the local cops would not have approved. Lucky for us the Bureau had smoothed the way, and the cars with the radar traps looked the other way as we sped by.

The prospects guarding the gate back at the clubhouse were expecting us and opened up when we approached. We parked in front of the clubhouse, and Jake met us at the door. He handed us each a bottle of beer, and I downed the first half of mine in one long gulp. Ace and Hawke did the same.

“You’ve got him in the pen?” Ace asked.

“Affirmative.”

“Anyone talk to him yet?”

Jake shook his head. “Thought it best to wait for you.”

“Good.” Ace looked over at me. “You want some time, or you ready?”

“Let’s get this over with.”

Ace nodded. “You take the lead. Hawke and I will back you up if you need us.”

I stalked through the kitchen and down the hall, exiting by the back door.

The pen was back behind the shooting range, and I saw a couple of prospects lounging there, waiting for us to get started.

They’d shoot at targets while we questioned the prisoner.

No chance of anyone hearing him scream over the sound of the guns.

I opened the door, and we entered. The prospect standing guard straightened up and nodded to Ace before heading out, shutting the door firmly behind him.

I circled the prisoner. He was tied to the one chair in the room, bolted down to the concrete floor. A gag stopped him from making a sound, and I nodded to Hawke who stepped forward and removed it. Ace stood back by the door, his eyes narrowed as he studied the man.

He didn’t look like much. Straggly hair and a skinny frame that showed no effort at keeping in shape.

This was the kind of guy the mafia relied on?

Hard to believe. He looked defiant, though.

He must have known he was dead meat, after seeing his buddy bite the dust. Maybe he figured he had nothing to lose.

I was about to disabuse him of that fucking notion.

There are easy ways to die, and really hard ways.

I was hoping he’d choose the hard way.

I stopped in front of him. “You want to tell us who sent you?”

He glared at me.

I backhanded him across the face, leaving him with blood dripping from his nose and a split lip.

“We know it was Drake, so why not give him up?” I caught a quick glimpse of confusion in the asshole’s eyes when I named Drake. Maybe this guy knew less than we thought.

“Don’t know no Drake. It was a contract. Blind paywall.” He spat out a mouthful of blood.

I narrowed my eyes and turned to Ace. A blind paywall didn’t make sense. Drake’s name had been bandied about enough. Why would he suddenly be hiding behind a paywall?

Ace shrugged, and I turned back to the asshole. “Tell me about the contract.”

He sneered. “You’re going to kill me anyway. Why should I tell you anything?”

“Because there’s two ways to die. Easy or hard. Your choice.”

He didn’t believe me at first, but it took less than an hour before he spilled everything he knew.

Working him over gave me an outlet for the rage that had lodged itself in my gut when I realized how determined this Drake fucker was to kill my Piper.

I felt calmer now. The rage was still there, but focused.

Drake needed to die.

I went outside to use the hand pump and trough to wash the blood off me and motioned the two prospects from the shooting range to clean up the mess inside. Hawke and Ace followed me out.

“Something doesn’t add up here,” Ace mused.

“I agree.” I splashed cold water on my face. “First Drake wanted everyone to know he was behind this, and now he’s trying to backpedal? Hide behind a blind paywall? Mafia doesn’t fucking backpedal. They own their shit.”

“Exactly. I’m going to see if Shadow can find anything else out.” Ace headed for the clubhouse.

“You feeling better now?” Hawke stayed behind and I knew it was in case I needed to talk.

“Yeah. Kind of. I need to end this bullshit so I can concentrate on Piper.”

“You going to officially make her your old lady?”

“If she’ll have me. And if her father doesn’t kill me for trying.”

Hawke laughed, slapping me on the back. “Her father seemed okay with you, and by the look on her face when you left, I’d say your chances are pretty good.”

He slung an arm around my shoulders as we walked back to the clubhouse together. Jake handed us another beer when we entered the kitchen. He looked from me to Hawke. “Well?”

I shrugged. “Not much to tell, really. They were given the bus route and told where the best section of road was to run it off. The storm was an added bonus, making it easier to approach without being seen, and to push the bus off the road when it had less traction due to the water. They weren’t expecting the biker escort though, and they panicked. ”

“It was a contract on the dark web. Blind paywall and all that.” Hawke shook his head.

“That’s not how the mafia works. Usually, they send their own guys if it’s a kill contract.

They want to make sure the job gets done.

The contract didn’t even require proof that she was dead, although they’d be able to check that through normal channels. Something smells fishy.”

“You’re right.” Ace and Shadow joined us in the kitchen. “The contract disappeared off the dark web as soon as this went down, and no mention was ever made of Drake or any of his top lieutenants.”

“You think someone else is behind this?” Jake frowned.

“I’m not sure what to think, but someone is definitely trying to get to Piper. We need to figure it out before that happens.”

“Any ideas on how to do that?”

Just then, my phone lit up.

Piper. What the fuck ?

She should be safe with her father and Thor. I glanced wildly at Ace as I hit accept. She didn’t mince words.

“Drake texted me. I have no idea how he got this number, but he wants to talk. What should I do?”