Page 6 of Karma (Deranged Drifters MC #23)

Chapter Six

Griffin’s Beach Colt

C igarettes. What Colt wouldn’t give for a good cigarette right now as he sits on the picnic table in front of the clubhouse. He gave up the habit a long time ago for Lex and the kids, but he wants nothing more than a long drag to calm his mind after the whole fiasco with Phillip.

The only other thing he wants more than a cigarette is Lex in his bed. He hasn’t stopped thinking about her all morning, and his thoughts keep rotating between worry about her safety and rolling around in the sheets of his apartment before he leaves on his run tonight.

He hasn’t told her yet about everything, even though he knows he should. When he does tell her, he’d rather have everything squared away with a plan in place to let her know she’s safe.

Lex pulls into the lot, and he immediately hardens in his jeans. His wife is good at reading his mind, and he smiles as he waits for her to walk up to him. That smile immediately falls when he sees her pissed-off face.

“Is VP inside?” Lex asks, yanking the door open before he can answer.

Jumping to his feet, he runs in after her. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“You,” Lex says, crossing her arms over her chest as she stops before him.

Her entire body shakes with anger, and Colt worries he may be losing his President patch today for killing an Original Ten. The club typically frowns upon the killing of a member without a vote.

He looks around to find the few people in the clubhouse typing away on their phones.

Mass message to tell everyone shit’s about to go down. Figures.

“Well, hello to you, too, daughter,” VP says with a crooked smile.

Taking a step back, Lex lowers her hands to her sides and clenches them into fists. She wants to punch her father square in the jaw, but Colt doesn’t know why just yet.

“Who the hell is Nero Sanders?”

VP’s eyes widen, and if Colt didn’t know any better, he’d swear VP visibly shakes. “Where did you hear that name?”

“Wrong answer,” she says through clenched teeth.

Looking at Brock, Colt asks him if he has any idea who this Nero is with a simple look. He shrugs in response, sharing that this name didn’t come up in the extensive review of VP’s past.

Apparently, Nero is a mystery.

Before Colt can ask, Brock walks from the room to get his laptop as others filter in from their apartments. The mass message clearly fulfilled its intended effect.

Lex turns to walk away, but VP grabs her arm and whips her back around to face him. “Lex, I mean it. Where the fuck did you hear that name from?”

“From him,” she bites back, yanking her arm from his grasp. The way she looks at her arm, it’s as though she just escaped a snake bite. “So, it’s true? What he told me?”

Colt walks over and looks between father and daughter who wear drastically different expressions. His wife looks livid while VP looks… scared.

“He’s not right in the head, Lex. You need to stay as far away from him as possible,” VP says, his voice shaking. “He’s dangerous, and he’ll hurt you.”

“Hurt her?” Colt echoes, suddenly very invested in finding out who this Nero guy is.

Her father looks at his son-in-law, and it startles Colt. He pleads with Colt, something he’s never done before. “Tell her to stay the hell away from him. I’m serious, Colt. Nero’s fucking insane, and it makes him even more dangerous than anything we’ve ever faced before.”

“Who is he?”

“VP’s oldest son,” Lex says as she glares at her father.

Looking around, Colt looks for an Original Ten in the room. He’d never heard anything about VP having another kid, but others likely would have. As though conjured up, his father walks into the clubhouse with Diesel Short right behind him.

“What’s going on? We got a message saying, and I quote, Shit’s about to go down. Come watch a bloodbath. What’s up?” TK asks.

Colt’s best friend and Vice President, Ky Short, looks at their fathers with narrowed eyes. “Do you guys know a kid named Nero Sanders?”

Stopping in his tracks, Diesel glares at VP. “They know about Nero?”

“Wait, you know about him?” Lex asks, her eyes wide as she gapes at the man who’s been more of a father to her than VP ever has been. “Does everyone fucking know?”

“He’s not healthy,” TK says. “Whatever you think you know about him, you gotta stay away. He showed up when Zane was… what? Two or three? He’s crazy.”

“Tried to skin a cat when he was four. While it was still alive,” Diesel says and rubs his bald head. “At least, that’s what VP told us.”

Swallowing, VP lets out a shaky breath. “He has psychological problems. I saw the issues when he was only three, but his mother refused to. I took him to see a doctor after the cat incident without her knowledge, and they diagnosed him with many things I don’t even remember.

Their recommendation was to lock him up because he’s a danger to himself and others. ”

“What’s his mom’s name?” Brock asks, suddenly appearing at a high-top table beside them with his laptop.

“Kelly Sanders,” Lex says.

Colt looks at Brock. “Why is that name familiar?”

“I’m not sure,” he says before adding, “Oh, fuck.”

“What?” Colt asks.

Eyes wide, he looks up at Colt. “I found his birth certificate, which VP isn’t listed on. It’s why I didn’t find him before.”

Lex turns and tilts her head. “Find him before? I thought you didn’t know about Nero?”

“We didn’t,” Colt asks. “What’s the issue?”

“Nero Sanders is Nero Phillip Sanders.”

Nodding, his wife looks between them, suspicion on her face. “Yeah, he said he goes by his middle name. What’s… Why do you both look like that?”

Clenching his fists at his sides, Colt steps further away from his father-in-law. The temptation to knock his ass out becomes nearly compulsive at this point, and he needs to keep his cool.

“I asked if anyone knew someone named Phillip months ago when Gerard mentioned it. This motherfucker, who you claim is dangerous, has that name. And you didn’t think to mention it to… I don’t know? The rest of us?”

“I didn’t know his middle name,” VP claims.

“He’s your fucking son!” TK shouts. “How do you not know his name?”

Lex looks around at everyone, and Colt knows they all wear murderous expressions as they glare at her father. “He, uh, he hates his first name because you gave it to him, VP. Why wouldn’t you know his middle name if you named him?” she asks. “What’s the deal? Why were you searching for Phillip?”

“He never had my name!” VP shouts. “I’m not even on his birth certificate.”

Colt shakes his head. “And why the hell aren’t you?”

“Because he knocked up Kelly when they were fifteen, and he wanted an out. Seriously, what’s going on?”

Taking a deep breath, he walks into the Chapel where they’ve hung up the information Nina sent.

They haven’t gotten everyone together to discuss it yet, but they planned to after the run.

Colt knows he’s dropping the ball by not bringing everyone in right away, but the wedding and Marnie getting shot became more important.

He grabs the picture of Phillip off the wall and brings it to Lex. “Baby—”

“Why do you have a picture of him?” Lex asks.

“Fuck,” Brock asks and looks up. “I know why his mom’s name sounds familiar.”

Closing his eyes, Colt takes a moment before he opens them. “Why?”

“Kelly Sanders was the first victim. She’s the first picture on the wall in the Chapel.”

Lex waves her hands in the air. “Hey, remember me? What the hell is going on? And what do you mean she’s the first victim? You think he killed his own mother?”

“Baby, we recently found out that Gerard isn’t the De-Identifier. Nina did research before she died, and she identified him as Phillip.”

“Come again?”

If the situation wasn’t so serious, he laughs at her reaction. “He’s the one who killed Nina, and if everything she sent Undertaker is correct, she was his thirty-fourth female victim.”

“Female victim… As in, there are also male victims?”

His wife is smart. Too smart. “Thirty-three. That we know of. Which, knowing he’s VP’s son, makes me realize that they all look like Zane. Just like the women all look like you.”

“He’s the one who’s been watching me.”

“What?” Ky asks. “Someone’s been watching you? When? Where?”

Running a hand over her hair, she lets out a long breath. “I’ve felt it for a while, but it was really prominent when Julian confronted me at the house. And then at the wedding. And the hospital. I felt it again at the hotel when I got Raena.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Colt asks.

“Why the fuck didn’t you?” Lex asks. “I thought I was going crazy because as far as I knew, we had no enemies. Besides Julian and Travis, but let’s be honest, they’re not going to confront me. Everything would be from a distance. You didn’t think I deserved to know this?”

“We weren’t sure if Gerard was telling the truth. We didn’t find any Phillip in anyone’s background. We thought it was a wild-goose chase.”

Brock sniffles. “Assuming he was telling the truth, Phillip’s going to come after you, Lex. That’s why all the victims look like you.”

“Let me just run through this and tell me if I have this right? The man charged with the murders committed by the De-Identifier told you he wasn’t the killer. A man named Phillip who wants me dead was, and we now know that man is VP’s oldest son? And he’s likely been stalking me for months?”

“Years,” Colt says. “Nina got a picture of his shop, and there’s a picture of you from my sixteenth birthday amongst the others. Basically, your pictures were his wallpaper in the shop.”

Nodding, she looks around. “Well, cool. Another brother who wants me dead. VP, any other siblings I should be made aware of? You know, since we’re two for two on sons wanting your daughter dead.”

VP keeps his mouth shut as Lex walks into the Chapel, and Colt follows her. Her eyes scan over the various victims they’ve placed in chronological order, and she stops at the image showing the collage of her.

“We’re going to find him, and we’re going to top him,” Colt says.

“They really do look like me. I saw it with Nina, but one is a coincidence. Thirty-four? Jesus.”

“Ky, call our customers and let them know the shipments are gonna be late. I’m canceling this run, and we need to get all three charters here for an emergency meeting. It’s my own fault we’re behind on this, and we need to get ahead of it,” Colt says.

He leads Lex back into the main room, and Ky nods. “They’re gonna be pissed.”

“If they want to meet at the warehouse in Black Valley tomorrow to pick them up themselves, we’ll give them twenty percent off. If they’re not willing to travel, we’ll give them forty percent off for waiting.”

“That’s almost no profit, Pres ,” VP says.

Snapping his head towards the former Vice President, Colt clenches his fists. “Well, considering the man we’ve been trying to identify for a while now happens to be your offspring, and he’s likely going to kill my wife, I think we’ll be fine without this run’s profit.”

“That’s bad business.”

“Yeah, well, you created this problem by not figuring out how to wrap your shit as a teenager, so I don’t give a fuck what you think.”

Lex sighs. “There’s no point pretending he cares.”

“This meeting happens tonight. No exceptions. I’ll call Psycho and Dax to let them know. Lex, call Hailey to get Calla from preschool and stay with her overnight. Brock, reach out to Phoenix and let him know I need the boys to stay with him and Lily tonight.”

He nods, and Lex looks at Colt. “Right now, we’re going to let this slide, but we will have a discussion about how long you knew and didn’t say something. From now on, if you even think someone wants to kill me, you have to tell me. Immediately.”

“I know, baby. I’m sorry. It’s my fault we’re so behind. I just… I thought we could find him and take care of him without ever having to worry you.”

“Still not completely off the hook.”

“I know. Brock, I want to know everything about this asshole. Where he’s at, where he lives, where he’s lived the past five years. I want to know things we don’t think are important, like his favorite color and whether or not he hates peas.”

“Care if I—”

“Tell Grayson we’ll pay double if he can drop everything to help.”

“Got it.”

Undertaker walks over to them and rests a hand on Lex’s shoulder. “This motherfucker ain’t getting anywhere close to you. You will have someone with you at all times, and when I find him, I’ll be one of the last people he sees.”

Forcing a smile, she nods. Not only did she just find out she has a long-lost brother, but this brother also wants her dead. Colt can only imagine what it feels like to know someone she shares DNA with has been killing women who look like her.

“Colt, do you think—”

“I swear to God, VP, I’m about thirty seconds away from breaking every bone in your goddamned face. Maybe even snap your neck. It’s going to be in your best interest to stay the fuck away from me, and whatever opinion you think you want to share, just don’t.”

Lex walks away with her phone out to call Hailey, and Colt makes his call to Dax and Psycho.

Both men assure him they’ll be there in hours, and Colt needs to think.

He fucked this up by not moving quicker, and he has to make it up to everyone.

Especially Lex. He really thought he’d have more time to figure things out, but Phillip approaching Lex changes everything.