Page 7 of Karma (Deranged Drifters MC #23)

Chapter Seven

Griffin’s Beach Colt

“ Y ou have a murder wall up,” Psycho says, nodding towards everything taped up on the walls.

Colt offered up his seat at the head of the table to Lex, but she opted to sit on the table in the corner of the room instead.

He can’t blame her for being angry with him, and he knows no matter how much he says he didn’t know if there was any real merit to what Gerard said, he should have told her.

Between Brock and Colt, they bring everyone up to speed.

They knew Gerard brought up Phillip, but they didn’t know they’d found out the man truly existed after fruitless searching.

And they see everything from the box of Nina’s stuff that came over a year too late.

Nina’s dead. Gerard is dead. Phillip wants Lex dead. And the asshole was in their town.

“How’d he fly under the radar?” Dax Hartman asks. “I mean, shouldn’t VP be on his birth certificate?”

“Nope,” Colt tells the Summerville President as he glares at his father-in-law. “He didn’t want to be listed.”

“There is no link to him that Grayson or I could find,” Brock says. “He was a fucking ghost in the wind until Nina’s box showed up.”

Psycho narrows his eyes. “How’d she find him?”

Shrugging, Undertaker shakes his head. “Nina’s always been inquisitive, but I honestly don’t know. She did all this work because the twenty-something victim was her friend, Dina.”

Venom runs a hand over his face. “Marnie confirmed that Phillip was the man with Nina in the restaurant the night she saw her. All the women are blonde with blue eyes. Just like Lex.”

“Gerard says Phillip was perfecting his methods until he could get to Lex,” Brock says. “We’re pretty sure she’s his final target if we don’t stop him first.”

“What about the guys?” Psycho asks.

“We’re guessing it’s similar to the women. They look like Zane.”

Snapping his head up, VP stares expectedly at Colt. “And what are we doing to protect Zane?”

This sets Colt off, and he grips the edge of the table to stop himself from leaping across it at him. Wrapping his hands around VP’s throat would feel pretty damn good right about now.

“You’re worried about your son rather than your daughter. Checks out for a motherfucker like you,” Colt growls.

“Zane’s out there with no protection! Lex is here with us. Which is a decision all you assholes made.”

“Because he tried to kill her!” Venom shouts. “He’s lucky he could walk when he left Griffin’s Beach because if I’d seen him, he’d be six feet under right now and in no danger from your firstborn.”

Psycho perks up. “Back up. What the fuck did you just say? Zane tried to kill Lex?”

“They’re overreacting. Zane was drunk because he just lost his fucking wife—”

“Fuck off, VP,” Colt says. “I came home after Noah called to tell me he thought his uncle was going to hurt Mom, and I found Zane on top of Lex with his hands gripped around her throat as she tried to fight him off. Smacked Lucas around pretty good, too.”

“He definitely would have killed her if we hadn’t shown up,” Ky says. “My regret is not letting Colt kill him right there.”

Hand up, Psycho shakes. “Where the fuck is he now? Because I think I should pay him a little visit. You know, to make sure he’s… safe.”

“He was upset because he lost his wife!” VP shouts. “He would never have killed his sister!”

“He was pissed at Lex because she wouldn’t let him take his daughter on his bike while he was shitfaced,” Colt says.

Psycho nods and shrugs. “Obviously. I guess she deserved a beating, then?”

“Zane’s been through enough!”

“No wonder Phillip hates you,” Lex says, speaking for the first time since they walked into this room.

Whipping around, VP glares at her. “You have an entire club to protect you—”

“And who protected them?” she asks and points at the wall. “Phillip could have killed me today, but I’m pretty sure he wants you to know he’s here. That he’s the one doing this. He’s fucking with me to get to you. You’re the reason for all of this.”

“I think it’s probably in the best interest of your health if you keep your mouth shut,” Psycho says and looks at Lex. “You met him?”

Sniffling, she nods. “It was at the cafe. Harold ran up screaming at me, and this guy slammed him against the wall a few times until Harold scurried off. He looked so familiar, and we shared about our mutual dislike of our fathers. That’s when he told me we shared a dad, and VP abandoned him to start a new family when he was only five. ”

“Yeah, he’s fucking with you. He wanted you to confront VP. That way, when he kills you, VP knows it’s his fault,” he says. “He’s doing this to make him take notice. What do we do? What’s the plan? Because I’ll be damned if I let anything happen to her.”

“And what about Zane?” VP asks.

The first stray Lex took in leaps across people to grab VP by the throat and choke him. “I don’t give a fuck about that piece of shit. This is what he did to your daughter. I’m about as likely to stop without intervention as he was,” Psycho shouts as it takes five men to pull him away.

“We can apply your logic for Zane to your other son. Phillip won’t kill Zane. He’ll stop before he goes too far. It’ll be fine,” Venom says.

“You don’t know anything, so stop talking like you do,” VP says between coughs. “Touch me again, and I’ll fucking end you!”

Psycho shakes his hands in the air in mock fear and leans against the wall. “So fucking scared.”

It’s hard not to smirk at Psycho’s remark. Colt’s actually jealous that he’d been able to do what Colt keeps holding himself back from. At this point, he’s not sure keeping his President patch is worth dealing with his father-in-law like this anymore.

“I tracked his cards, and he’s north of here about two hundred miles,” Brock says.

“I have a program set up to track his spending and send me his alerts whenever he uses them. I also found a way into his car’s GPS, and once I have his cell number, I’ll track him that way, too.

It’s taking some time to get that, though. ”

“She’s safe so far. That’s a relief,” Colt says. “As for the plan, Lex is never to be alone. Someone is at the house or tailing her at all times unless I’m with her.”

Venom shakes his head. “No, even when you’re home. At least at night. He could create a lot of problems for you when you’re vulnerable and sleeping.”

“You’re right. Okay, we’ll set up a rotation for nights unless we’re here. During the day, I’m more than alert and ready to murder anyone trying to come for my wife.”

Everyone begins to mumble and talk, all making plans to make sure Lex is safe. She doesn’t look thrilled or relieved, and she simply stands and walks out of the room.

“Baby, I’m sorry,” Colt says after he runs to catch up to her. “I didn’t know enough to tell you anything for certain, and I didn’t want you to worry. But we’re going to find him.”

“I need to know when there’s a threat to me. The feeling of being watched has been there, and it made me feel like I was crazy. I wasn’t crazy, though, Colt. I was right,” she says.

Pulling her to him, he holds her tightly. “I wish you would’ve told me.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.”

The men come from the main room, but shouting interrupts their conversation as Snake shouts, “Fuck you, VP!”

“Real rich coming from the piece of shit who let his daughter get shot at her own wedding because he refused to go!” VP shouts back.

Lex’s eyebrows raise, and Colt knows VP’s getting his ass kicked now. Snake lays him out flat with one hit, and he snarls as he looks around. Looking at Lex, he asks, “Can we all agree that this asshole is lower than me when it comes to being a father now?”

“I’d forgotten he even existed until this afternoon,” he says and climbs to his feet. “This isn’t my fault. I’m not a bad father.”

“I think you have more than a few people here who disagree with that,” Jennings says.

“Do you hear yourself?” Lex asks. “You forgot your firstborn child even existed. What is it going to take for you to step back and realize your mistakes?”

He shakes his head. “He’s not my son. He’s a monster.”

“Guess it comes from his father, huh?” Diesel says.

“Fuck all of you!”

Shaking out his hand, Snake looks at Lex. “I know you don’t trust me, but I’ll do whatever you need me to.”

“I trust you more than him,” she says with a sigh and nods towards VP.

Her father has the gall to look offended. “Gee, thanks.”

“You just don’t get it. You did this, VP. Caused all of this, and you’re still only worried about Zane. The man who can take care of himself and is so far off the grid that no one knows where he is. I’m willing to bet he’s perfectly safe.”

“You don’t know that,” he says, his voice low.

Pointing at the door, Psycho smirks. “Why don’t you go out there and find him? By yourself. That way, he won’t be alone.”

“Maybe Phillip will see the opportunity to take both of them out. Save us all the headache of dealing with them anymore,” Venom says.

“You threatening to kill me, motherfucker?” VP growls.

He closes the gap between them and spits in his face as he says, “No, but I just need one solid reason, and I’ll take you out of this world. Don’t test me.”

Sighing, Lex puts her hands in the air. “I’ve had more than enough of this. I’m going to bed.”

“Lex—”

“I know. Apartment.”

She leaves, and Colt shakes his head. “She’s never alone. Got it?”

“We got it,” Dax says. “Nothing happens on our watch. We can figure out how to adjust the runs to cover things until we find him.”

“Go to her,” Ky says. “We’ll work on a plan and schedule to keep a balance. VP will be on every fucking run because the last person any of us trusts on his daughter’s protection detail is him. She needs you.”

“This better be the only extra kid you got, VP,” Colt says. “The last thing she needs is another situation like this.”

He walks into his apartment to find Lex lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. She doesn’t even glance at him, and he feels like the worst husband in the world.

“Baby?”

“I just need to process all of this. I’ll be fine.”

Stripping out of his leather and jeans, he climbs into bed and pulls her into his arms. “Yeah, you will be because we’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

She says nothing, and he worries she doesn’t believe him. All three charters will do whatever it takes to protect her, but she’s been hit with a few too many secrets today.

“I love you,” Colt whispers.

“I love you, too.”

At least she hasn’t given up on him in her anger and disappointment.