Page 1 of Lies Beneath Secrets (Skeleton Crew #1)

CHAPTER ONE

Con

The sound of rain on a tin roof is almost deafening. I can’t hear anything over the loud sound of the heavy drops. Besides my racing thoughts. I’m on guard duty tonight, watching over a man who has acted as a father figure to me, more so than my biological father. My club brother, Gabe, sits on the other side of the wall in this small shed.

Tied to a chair.

Beaten bloody.

I’ve gone over the story King told us so many times, it’s becoming a blur. King claims he caught Gabe red-handed, smoking gun and all, murdering our president, Boe. After beating him senseless, King dragged Gabe back to the clubhouse to await trial.

I take a sip of water and glance at the room’s door, wondering when Gabe last had a drink. Deciding I don’t give a shit about the consequences, I push open the door. The scent of piss and blood hits me in the face as I step over the threshold. Dim light from the single ceiling bulb is enough to show me his face. If I hadn’t witnessed him being put in this very spot, I wouldn’t have known it was Gabe tied and gagged in front of me.

“Fucking hell,” I mumble and step further into the room. I’m met with muffled words, but I can’t make out any of them. “Don’t yell when I take this off, got it?” I point to the bandana wrapped firmly around his head, pulling through his lips so tight, it’s splitting the edges of his mouth. Blood is soaked into the blue material, making it nearly black. Gabe nods his agreement, and I do my best to pull the scarf away. “Drink.” I put the bottle of water on his lips, tipping it for him to get a drink. It crinkles with the action, and Gabe happily takes down the rest of what’s left.

“Thanks,” he whispers.

“All I got for ya.” Pinching the fabric, I slowly slide the scarf back into place when he tries to speak again.

“He did it,” he rasps, giving me pause.

“What?” My fingers, still holding the fabric, are frozen in place from his words.

“King killed Boe. Saw him do it.” His voice is choppy and slurred, but I understand him regardless.

“King?” I whisper, getting a slow nod from Gabe. Ice forms in my veins. “How the fuck are you still alive if that’s true?” If King were trying to pin this on Gabe, leaving him still breathing doesn’t add up. He would have had every right to shoot Gabe on the spot instead of bringing him in for some bullshit trial. Gabe opens his mouth to speak again but is interrupted by the scrape of the door across the floor, then yelling.

“What the fuck are you doing? King said to leave the door shut.” Len stomps into the room from behind me. I get the gag back into place and turn around to show the bottle.

“I gave him some damn water. He’s still our brother until the vote.” With a loud crunch, I crush the bottle into a ball and toss it onto the floor in the corner of the room.

Len gets closer and spits on the ground by Gabe’s feet. “He’s a traitor to the club and the reason why our president is dead.” The lanky bastard has the gall to try to stand up to me, I could crush him with my pinky without even breaking a sweat.

“Not until we vote,” I state firmly, leaning in toward Len to assert my position.

“That’s enough!” King shouts from the door. “Con. You’re off duty now. Let’s go inside and catch up to the rest of them. Len’s got it from here.” I glance up to see Len shooting me a grin I’d like to punch off his face.

“Yeah,” I grunt and give Gabe one last glance before turning from the room. King puts his arm around my shoulders and guides me along the way.

“A few of them girls from the town over found their way here tonight,” King says as the heavy metal door clangs shut behind us. Boe’s funeral was today and afterwards, King decided the club needed to throw a proper party to honor the man.

As we step outside, I notice the rain has stopped, leaving behind large puddles of water. King walks through them without concern. I push to the back of my mind what Gabe told me only minutes ago, as I keep in stride with King on the watered-down path to the clubhouse. We aren’t close. He may be a club brother and my VP, but the man’s tactics don’t sit well with me. We’ve disagreed on occasion but have never come to blows over it.

King swings open the door, and I realize I haven’t yet responded. “Yeah,” I clear my throat, “I’ll have to check that out,” I say, feigning interest. My phone rings in my pocket, and I pull it out. King laughs at me when I flip it open to answer it.

“Why you haven’t upgraded that damn thing is beyond me.” Everyone gives me hell about my phone. I’m not one for the fancy upgrades that all the brothers have. This one works fine.

Most of the time.

“Hello?” There’s someone on the other end, but they keep cutting out, and I can’t piece any words together. “I don’t understand what you’re saying,” I state and clasp it closed again.

“See, you need a new damn phone. Something that isn’t older than my grandma.” King smacks me on the shoulder and walks away.

“Yeah, maybe I do,” I mumble and glance back down at my phone again, thinking it might ring once more. When it doesn’t, I put it back into my pocket. A missed phone call is the least of my worries as of right now.

Gabe’s words echo in my head as I walk through the clubhouse. As much as I’d like to call King out, I know it won’t end well. The man has a reputation for being ruthless and not at all a fair fighter. What I now know could get me killed in an instant. Or at least tied up right next to Gabe.

The speakers are pumping out a song that has a deep bass beat to it. It vibrates down into my chest and makes everything around me inaudible. Words to a song I’ve never heard before fill my ears, but I pay them no mind. I’m not here for the music. Making my way over to Knox, I glance at Siena, our newest member of the club, silently letting her know what I’m after. She’s there to meet me when I sit at the bar next to Knox with a glass and a can of Guinness.

“How’s it out there?” Knox asks me as he taps some ash off the tip of his cigar.

“Our brother is tied to a chair and beaten half to death. Just peachy.” I crack open the can and angle my glass to pour in the dark-brown liquid. Enough of an angle, and there won’t be too much foam at the top. Siena quietly takes away the empty can when I’m done, and I gulp a few long drinks from the glass. Maybe I should have gone with scotch tonight, but I don’t want to give off how stressed I am.

“It’ll be over tomorrow.” Knox takes a sip from the beer bottle in front of him. Gabe told me not to trust anyone. Is Knox someone I can’t trust? I’ve known him for just about as long as I’ve known Gabe. But on the other hand, I also know that he’s the club’s enforcer. He does the dirty behind the scenes work. The shit that needs to be handled without anyone knowing what happened or who did it. That means if King wanted me gone without anyone knowing, Knox would be the one to do it regardless of how long we’ve known each other. I eye up his bottle a little, watching his thumb peel away at the label. The fish on the label that covers most of it is nearly gone. He must have been digging on it for some time now. Something has to be bothering him too.

Len’s shouting from outside pours into the clubhouse. His face is bloodied, eye swelled shut. “He got away!” he shouts. Some of the other brothers jump up and start toward the door, only for King to stop them.

“Hold on.” King gets up from the chair and stalks over to Len. “How long ago?”

“Maybe ten minutes. I don’t know. He knocked me out.” Len reaches up and touches the gash on his head, wincing at the action.

“He couldn’t have gotten too far,” King starts, “Knox? You’re with Con. You two are the fucking soberest ones in here tonight.” Knox looks my way, and I shrug. I suppose he’s right. “Stay alert. No telling what kind of measures he’ll take to stay alive.” Murmurs of agreement spread around the room. My phone chooses this moment to go off, ringing that generic tone in my pocket. King shoots me a raised brow in question as to who the hell is calling me right now. Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I flip it open, and the call suddenly ends. This fucking phone.

“You’re getting an upgrade tomorrow,” Knox says behind me with humor in his tone. “Fucking old man.”

“Still better looking than you.” Knox barks out a laugh at my retort. Knox is the epitome of a pretty boy. Tall, sandy-blond hair. Sharp jawline covered in the same amount of stubble each day. Hell, he even has one of them dimples on his chin. I, on the other hand, it’s been some time since my hair has seen clippers. It normally stays tied back or under a bandana. My beard is a few inches long, only getting a trim now and then when it starts to bother me. The strands of silver weaving through both probably make me seem older than my forty years of age.

“Even your jokes are outdated.” Knox laughs. Fucker is like ten years younger than I am.

“Let’s fucking go asshole.” I check my gun to make sure it’s loaded, then tuck it away for now, hoping I won’t have to use it later.

We’re only three miles from town, cross country, so a man highly motivated to stay alive wouldn’t take too long to reach the outskirts. There are mostly apartments on that side and no abandoned buildings that I know of. A couple small businesses and a diner. So, if he were to hide out, he’d have to break into something.

One group of men take off on foot in case Gabe is slow as hell and is still in the woods between the clubhouse and town. Knox and I drive into town. “Leave your cut in the truck. We don’t need to draw attention to ourselves or have someone remember us,” I say, taking mine off and placing it in the backseat.

“You think they would if they realized who we were?” Knox responds but takes his off as well. The Skeleton Crew are very well known in this town and sometimes not in a good way. Especially since in the last few years, the club has been connected with the Flatliners, a street gang that has been growing their ranks. While we only provide transport protection for them, it still puts a stain on our reputation. Boe was never fond of the partnership, but he was outvoted when the proposal was brought to the table. By King.

I glance over at Knox who has his gun drawn. I do the same and keep it low, wondering for a moment if now could be the time I should say anything to him about Gabe’s reveal. “You really think he was able to get away?” Knox asks me.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You were just with him, weren’t you?” He doesn’t look my way, only keeps walking in front of me through the alley.

“Are you accusing me of something?” I ask, causing him to pause for a moment without turning around.

“I’m asking if you think Gabe would have been able to get away?” Knox takes another step, his gaze seemingly trained on an apartment window. I glance up to the same window in time to see something flash behind the curtain, then a woman’s scream for a split second.

“Shit.” Both Knox and I swear at the same time and jog for the front door of the apartment complex. The glass vestibule door is busted open with thick shards all over the floor.

“Gotta be him,” Knox declares. “Looked like it was on the third floor.” I nod in agreement and follow after him to the stairs. The hallway is lit, and I can’t help but notice there is more than just one set of wet footprints on the thin, worn carpet.

“Hey,” I whisper to Knox, then point at the floor when he looks back my way.

“Two,” he responds. He draws back the hammer on his gun when we reach an apartment door that has been kicked in. The door jamb is splintered where the deadbolt used to sit.

The closer we get, the clearer we can hear whimpering inside. “Please. I didn’t see anything.” It’s a woman’s voice. Small and shaky. No one answers her back, only the click of a gun loading. “Please,” she pleads again.

“Where is it?” King’s voice speaks in the dimly lit room.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she whimpers again.

He chuckles, then must hear Knox and I walk into the room. His head turns our way. I keep my mouth shut, so does Knox. The woman is on the floor, hunched over, covering her head. She looks like a child almost, the way she’s crouching down. She’s so small.

King reaches down and takes a handful of her dark, wayward hair, pulling her up to his face, her feet barely on the floor. She keeps her eyes squeezed shut. “Should have been sleeping, little one,” he taunts, then places the barrel of his gun right under her jaw.

“Please,” she sobs again, and something in me clenches hard. I’ve been a witness to many things King has done in the past. Some could be justifiable and others not so much. This right here is the latter. I can’t help myself. I snap my fingers, getting his attention. He looks my way with a dark glare. As if I’m taking away his fun. I narrow my stare and slowly shake my head in warning.

“Guardian angel,” he mutters and pushes the gun harder into her chin. Her neck stretches with the force, and it causes her to let out a hiss. This is a scary situation for anyone, but she seems to be handling it surprisingly well and for a moment, I find myself impressed with the girl.

“I haven’t seen your face,” she explains. “I wear glasses. I can’t see anything without them.” She tries to reason with him. King lets out a huff.

“Oh yeah?” He glances around the small apartment, eyes landing on the kitchen table where a pair of glasses sit. He gestures with the gun for me to grab them. I know damn well this won’t be over until he has his fun, so I oblige and grab the glasses. When I hand them over, he lets her hair go and slowly slides them onto her face. “Open them now, sweetheart. I want you to see the man who’s going to kill you.” He mocks and fuck, I’m done with his bullshit. He shoves her when she doesn’t do as he says. She stumbles back a little, then shakes her head. Again, he yells, and that’s all it takes for me.

Without even thinking, I step forward and hit the girl over the head hard enough for her to go down in a thud. Her face hits the floor, and those glasses that King put on her face split in half, one of the pieces flying off to the side from the impact. Shit, she’ll be hurting tomorrow. I look up at King, who scowls at me.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m not letting you kill her,” I snap and look down at her. “She’s a fucking kid.” I put my gun to my side, but I don’t put it away just yet, unsure if I’ll need it to defend myself from him. Something in me senses a shift in the air that doesn’t sit right. The way he grabbed her still makes me want to pull the trigger on him.

“Fucking softy,” King finally replies and puts his gun away. “Help me with his damn body.” He points over to a body on the tiled kitchen floor I hadn’t noticed. Too busy focused on the girl.

Gabe .

“I caught up with him. Found him hiding in here.” King bends down and picks something up from the floor. “He took this from Len.” He holds up a gun, then tucks it into his jeans. “Fucker tried to shoot me. But I was quicker.”

I don’t question King at all, but I do chance a questioning glance over at Knox. His expression is blank and unreadable. I go along with King and help pick up Gabe.

“I got the clean up,” Knox says as we carry Gabe out of the apartment.

There’s already a truck in the parking lot we put Gabe in. When I close the tailgate, King comes to my side. “You better fucking hope that girl doesn’t talk, or I’ll slit your throat, right after I make you watch her die.” I don’t respond to his threat. Instead, I walk away from him, toward where Knox and I left the truck. Knox won’t be too long with the cleanup, and I need to get the hell away from King.