Page 22 of Panther’s Magpie (Mountain River MC #1)

CHAPTER

TWENTY

MAGGIE

F or the second morning in a row, I wake up in Calloway’s bed. I can’t help but smile as I think about last night and the way he touched me, kissed me, fucked me.

It was…life-changing.

Humming, I roll over and open my eyes. My smile slips when I see that I’m alone.

He’s…gone.

My stomach drops as I feel his side of the bed and see that it’s cold.

Oh god.

I’m such an idiot.

Here I am romanticizing how amazing last night was when he had no issues with leaving. How pathetic can I be?

I roll over onto my back and stare up at the ceiling, trying to fight back the tears. I’m so fucking na?ve.

I need to leave.

Sitting up, I turn to get out of bed but pause when I see what’s on the nightstand. There’s a folded piece of paper, a glass of orange juice, and a dandelion.

“What in the world?” I murmur.

Most women would frown over receiving a dandelion since it’s a weed. I find it sweet, though. He wanted to do something sweet and make me smile. He worked with what he had without leaving and having to come back.

It’s the little things, and this one means so much.

Instead of reaching for the letter right away, I grab the orange juice and bring it to my lips. As I drink it, I stare at the letter that has my name scrawled on the front with messy handwriting.

Did he write me a note?

Surely it’s not a “it’s not you but me” letter, right?

After finishing the juice, I set the cup back on the nightstand and reach for the letter.

Be brave.

Taking a deep breath, I open the paper and read.

Magpie,

The last thing I wanted to do after last night was leave you in bed alone, but I had to.

You looked so fucking peaceful I couldn’t bear to wake you up.

I had to take off early for some club business.

I’ll be back as soon as I can. I hope you’ll meet me at my place, only this time with a bag. Have a good day, baby.

See you soon, Magpie.

-Calloway

P.S. You snore, and it’s fucking adorable.

Groaning, I fall back onto the bed and cover my face.

Seriously? Couldn’t he have been nice and pretended like I don’t snore? You would think that he would know by now that women hate hearing about their flaws.

Getting out of bed, I pick up his T-shirt from last night off the floor and slip it on. Leaving the bedroom, I head to the kitchen, where I find another note on the coffee maker.

Start me.

“This man,” I murmur as I hit the button.

Once the coffee is brewed, I fill my cup and head to the couch. I sit down and cover my legs with the blanket I got. Staring out the window, I drink my coffee.

Last night was…perfect. It was everything and more.

A knock at the door pulls me from my dirty thoughts.

Setting the cup down, I answer the door. “Hey, what are you doing here?” I ask as Rain steps inside.

“Look at you. All sexed up,” she teases.

“Rain,” I groan, making her laugh.

“I can’t help it. You have that freshly fucked glow about you. I’m kinda jealous.” She raises her hand. “Not because I’m jealous that you had sex with Panther, ew, but because you got laid in general. I don’t even remember the last time I had an orgasm.”

Relief fills me knowing that she’s not interested in him.

“There are toys that could help you clear the cobwebs, you know,” I quip, making her laugh.

“True. I’m going to have to next-day ship some shit.” She sighs.

“Or you could just go buy some yourself. In person.”

Her nose crinkles. “See, that sounds fine in theory and might work in California, but not here. Knowing my luck, someone I know would be working behind the counter, and I really would rather not let them imagine me getting myself off on something they sold me.”

“I…” I shake my head, unsure of how to respond to that.

I’ve never really thought of that, but now that she’s pointed it out, it’s going to be stuck with me. Do people who work at sex shops really imagine their customers getting themselves off?

She smiles wickedly. “You’re thinking about it right now, aren’t you?”

Yes. No. Goddammit.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?” I ask, changing the subject.

“Because you are coming with me. I hope it’s okay, but I grabbed some clothes for you from the clubhouse.” She hands me a bag.

“I am?”

“Yep. You just need to get dressed.”

I run my hand through my hair. “I don’t know. I’m not supposed to go anywhere.”

Rain waves her hand through the air. “I already cleared it with Panther. He knows you’ll be with me, and before you ask, yes, he approved.”

I raise my eyebrows in disbelief. Surely if he planned on me leaving today, he would have mentioned it in his note, right?

“Really?”

“I wouldn’t lie. Not about this at least.”

“I don’t know…”

“Look, if you don’t want to come, you don’t have to, but I think you would like what I have planned. Besides, a bunch of the brothers will be there too. The most danger you’ll be in is accidentally hitting your finger with a hammer or getting a splinter.”

“Uh…explain?”

“We’re just going to go help rebuild some houses.” She shrugs as if it’s not a big deal.

I love that idea, but…

“I’ve never done that before.”

“Well, there’s a first time for everything.” She claps her hands together. “Now hurry up and get dressed. If you’re ready in ten minutes, we can stop for donuts on the way.”

Laughing, I shake my head as I walk toward the bedroom. “I’m going. I’m going!”

Excitement fills me. Building homes definitely isn’t in my wheelhouse, but I can’t wait to try. Besides, it beats sitting around here, waiting for him to come home.

PANTHER

“You’re late,” Meek says as I sit down at the table.

“Yeah, yeah. Why are we meeting here?” I ask as I look around.

“Nah, that can wait. I want to know what’s going on,” Eagle teases.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice that a certain little brunette hasn’t slept at the clubhouse the last two nights. So my guess is that she’s taking up residence in your bed,” Eagle says as he wiggles his eyebrows up and down.

“Is this really necessary right now?” Meek asks, frowning.

“Yes, Meek, it is. I know we have some bad shit going on, but we need to embrace the good too,” Eagle tells him before looking back at me. “So…”

“Yes, she’s been staying at my place, and that’s all you need to know right now. Now someone tell me why we are here.”

Here, instead of in bed with her, sinking inside of her again.

“Because we need to talk in private,” Meek says.

A busy diner at breakfast isn’t exactly private, but that’s not what he meant.

“Do you think we have a mole?” I ask as my stomach fills with dread.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watch Eagle go tense. His playful demeanor falls.

Meek shakes his head. “No, not at all.”

“Then why here?” Eagle asks.

“One, because I was hungry and I like this place.” His eyes dart to a waitress before coming back to us. “And two, we don’t need to worry everyone.”

Before he can say anything else, a waitress comes and takes our order. Only after she walks away do we speak.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

He leans forward and speaks quietly. “They were idiots and fucked up. They dropped a receipt when they were rigging the place. I hacked into their security cameras, and I got Monster on camera purchasing all the materials and loading it up into a van.”

“Okay, this is good. Were you able to track the van?” I ask as my heart races.

“I was. He went to a vacant warehouse where he ditched the van and got back on his bike,” Meek tells us.

Eagle nods. “Okay, this is good.”

Meek winces, filling my stomach with dread. “What is it?”

“Well, two things. I lost him when he got on I-70 and headed home.”

“What do you mean you lost him?” Eagle hisses.

“Exactly what I said.”

“How is that even possible?” I ask, shaking my head.

“Apparently Garfield County had a massive outage. Not only was every security system down, but first responder lines as well. Cops, firefighters…everything couldn’t be dispatched. All calls were routed to neighboring counties,” Meek tells us.

“How the fuck does that even happen?” Eagle asks, shaking his head.

“My best guess is that it was intentional.”

“You think they have a man on the inside?” I ask.

Meek nods. “It would make sense. We do.”

He’s not wrong. We have two members on the local police force, three on the fire department, and one EMT.

“Fuck,” Eagle says as he leans back in his chair, shaking his head.

I eye Meek as he shifts in his chair. Something that’s not like him. Meek is always cool, calm, and collected. He doesn’t shift.

“What haven’t you told us?” I ask.

“The material they bought for the explosives. The receipt was tracking more than what we found,” he says, filling me with dread.

“Shit,” Eagle and I say in unison.

“So there are explosives unaccounted for out there?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“Dude, this is seriously fucked. I’m fucking over it. I want to drive over there and take them all out,” Eagle says quietly.

“That’s not our style,” I remind him.

But it’s tempting. So fucking tempting.

“Well, maybe it should be,” he tells me.

Ignoring him, I look back at Meek. “Then what the hell do we do?”

“We wait. That’s all we can do until we know more. Hopefully Asher will get with us soon and we can actually formulate a plan,” Meek tells us.

I close my eyes and tip my head back, exhaustion hitting me full force. It’s crazy how fast shit can change in a matter of an hour or two. I woke up so happy, and then reality smacked me in the face.

“Do we lock everyone down and call them back to the clubhouse? Stick close to home?” Eagle asks.

I shake my head. “No, we can’t. We don’t want to create mass panic, and if we do, then who knows how they will react.”

“They are taunting us currently. Almost as if they are playing with their food,” Meek says.

Eagle’s eyebrows wing up. “Are you calling us their food right now? Seriously?”

“Yes, because we are,” Meek says with zero hesitation.

“And that’s a good thing?” I ask in disbelief.

“Yes, actually. The longer they are focused on us, the less attention they are giving Aspen. Which means her chances of survival increase. The longer we let them play, the better off she will be,” Meek says matter-of-factly.

“Quiet,” I hiss as the waitress heads toward us with a tray full of food.

“Thank you,” we say as she sets our food down.

“You boys are welcome. Let me know if you need anything,” she says as she smacks her gum.

Meek cringes like the sound of her smacking the gum hurts him.

“People are fucking gross,” he murmurs as she walks away.

As we dig into our food, my mind races. I hate fucking waiting. I’ve always been proactive, so to wait feels like torture, but if it means Aspen is safe, I’ll fucking do it.

I’ll do anything to keep her and Maggie safe.

Maggie.

My thoughts shift to the way she looked this morning when I woke up. Her hair was spread across the pillow behind her. Her mouth was slightly parted as she snored softly.

Just thinking about her, I can’t help but smile.

“Maggie on your brain?” Eagle asks, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Shut the fuck up,” I tell him.

“Hey, all I’ll say is that I think she’s good for you,” he says.

Meek nods. “I like her. Statistically speaking, couples who turn toward each other in hard times, their marriages last longer.”

The thought of marrying Maggie should fill me with anxiety, but it doesn’t. Instead, it feels right.

Shit, I really am gone for her.

Gone for a girl after one night of being together, who the fuck am I?

I’m not mad about it, though. Not mad at all.