Page 18 of Primal Urges (Bikers of Mayhem #1)

CADEN

T he next day, Marcus asked Caden and Blade to drive down to Houston and pick up an order of guns that had finally arrived.

In addition to working at the bar, the crew also worked side jobs as part of the Shadow Vipers.

The biker gang participated in the usual transport of guns or drugs for local criminal organizations.

They also offered additional muscle or protection when jobs became heated or gangs were hesitant to trust one another.

Basically, they went where the money was.

If Caden had to guess, he assumed that sixty percent of Marcus’s cash came from Vipers business while the remaining forty came from the bar.

Of course, he had no real idea. All financials were taken care of by Marcus and his brother, Ace, but judging by some of the merchandise and services the Vipers provided, Caden was pretty sure that his estimates were not very far off.

Ride ’em Hard was the perfect cover for Marcus’s illegal activities. The bar provided a way for him to launder his money while making it appear that his cash was from legitimate sources.

Bars were a cash-intensive business, so it was hard for the IRS to distinguish which deposits were related to the sale of alcohol and which were from the sale of trafficked guns.

Today, they were picking up a couple of cases of 9mm semiautomatic handguns for a street gang known as The Scorpion’s Kiss . They were a newer gang that was starting to gain power and street credibility in Phoenix, Arizona.

The guns had their serial numbers filed off and were untraceable if ever used in a crime. The guns had been fitted with minor alterations the gang had specifically asked for.

Who knew that even gang leaders were picky about their hardware?

Marcus had met the leader of the gang a year ago while visiting some friends in Phoenix.

His crew was then contracted to help with supplying weapons and security transports for a few of the higher-end drug runs the gang completed from time to time.

State troopers weren’t as confident pulling over a pack of bikers cruising along the interstate.

These gigs were becoming bigger and more high-risk as the years progressed. It was clear that Marcus was working on building a name for the crew, and judging by their clientele, Marcus’s crew was really starting to make a name for themselves.

They were a crew that could be relied upon and trusted to deliver. Discretion was always assured. And, of course, if you tried to betray the Shadow Vipers… let’s just say, people would be finding your body parts all across the desert.

No, Marcus’s crew was not to be messed with.

It was just after three a.m. when Caden pulled the minivan into the parking lot at the back of the bar and began carrying crates of merchandise down into the basement.

Marcus had installed a fake wall with a hidden room to store their less-than-legal merchandise.

Only select members of the crew knew about this storage room.

Marcus believed that the fewer people who knew where the merchandise was stored, the less risk there was of the authorities finding out or the items being stolen.

Not that people were dumb enough to steal from Marcus. That was just absurd.

Caden and Blade were among those who knew about the storage room. Both had been working with Marcus since they were nineteen.

Since the room was hidden, a security lock or access code was not needed to gain entry. One just had to know how to access the unlocking mechanism that allowed the wall to be opened.

Reaching for the broken lamp attached to the wall, Caden turned the fixture left and pulled the wall forward once he heard the lock disengage.

Caden and Blade spent the next twenty minutes unloading the merchandise. It was tiring, but the fewer people who knew about this room, the more secure their business would be.

“There. I think that’s it.” Caden huffed, placing the last case neatly against the wall and filling out the inventory log that Ace insisted they keep.

“We need to know what orders have been placed and picked up and what is still outstanding. Personally, I don’t want to get a bullet in my ass because I forgot to deliver someone’s order,” Ace once scolded when Caden had forgotten to update the inventory log.

Cade returned the log to its spot on the cabinet and glanced around at all the items “pending delivery.”

There were guns and ammo, and knives that were illegal in the States, but collectors craved to have them as part of their collection.

There were even exotic animals, such as rare lizards and spiders—thank god Marcus tended to those items himself.

There were even a few snakes that a mad scientist had asked them to procure for him.

He claimed that he was conducting experiments using their venom, but people were weird, so who knew why the man was really asking for the creatures?

Frankly, Caden wasn’t sure why the man couldn’t go out and capture his own snakes. It’s not like these ones were illegal, but perhaps the man had a fear of handling snakes. Either way, that was what kept the money rolling in. Getting things for people that they normally couldn’t get on their own.

“Sounds good, boss,” Blade responded, heading back up the stairs with Caden in tow.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Caden closed the door and then froze in his tracks.

Music was playing at the front of the bar.

“What’s that?” Blade asked, pulling a gun from the inside of his jacket and tiptoeing toward the unknown source.

“Wait. Let me check it out first. You’re liable to shoot someone’s head off accidentally,” Caden ordered. He found it unlikely that a robber would break into the bar and then blast music for everyone to hear.

Caden slowly pushed open the back room door and peeked into the main area of the bar. All the bar lights were on, and a tiny, brown-haired twink was dancing in the middle of the room, holding a mop and belting out the lines to a show tune that sounded vaguely familiar.

“What the fuck?” Blade whispered, peering over Caden’s shoulder with a shit-eating grin that practically swallowed his head.

Grinning, Caden watched as Lucas twirled around the room, belting out lyrics about seasons of love.

The boy was magical. Listening to the depth of emotion and pain in his voice as he sang formed a lump in Caden’s throat that he struggled to swallow.

The song was about love and loss and measuring one’s worth over a lifetime. Was it measured in truths learned or times that were cried? The song seemed to describe the various seasons of love. Hearing it sung in Lucas’s voice gave Caden goose bumps.

Was this what Lucas was talking about when he mentioned transporting people to another world and causing them to feel such emotions? The boy was right. Seeing Lucas perform was like watching a butterfly emerge from its cocoon.

It was both magical and life-altering.

Beside him, Blade was recording the performance on his cell phone, no doubt to benefit him at a later date.

“Who knew that the boy could sing?” Blade whispered over Caden’s shoulder.

He didn’t want to disturb the boy. Watching Lucas perform was like nothing he had ever witnessed before.

“He went to school for musical theater,” Caden heard himself say.

“And now he’s working at a dump like this?”

Caden jabbed Blade in the ribs with his elbow. “How about you head home and keep this little performance to yourself?” Caden suggested, giving his buddy a “this is not up for negotiations” glare.

“Sure thing, boss,” the young man answered, locking his cell phone and shoving it back into his jeans.

Over his shoulder, he listened as Blade slipped out the back door and drove away.

He wanted to keep watching but knew that he was now standing in creepy stalker territory once again.

The song finally ended with Lucas striking a pose.

Caden took this as his opportunity to announce his presence. He began clapping as he walked into the main room.

Startled, Lucas let out a yelp and spun around quickly, eyes wide with terror.

“Damn, who knew you had a voice like that?” Caden cheered, making his way over to where Lucas was standing.

The look of shock and surprise quickly faded, only to be replaced with something much more… unfriendly .

Dipping his mop back in the water bucket, Lucas turned his back on Caden and resumed mopping the floors.

“What the hell are you doing here, creeper ?” Lucas huffed under his breath.

Well, that was a little more hostile than he was expecting.

Smirking, Caden stepped over the wet spot on the floor and leaned against the bar.

“Had to drop something off for the big man. What are you doing here?” He hoped that perhaps some witty banter might lighten the mood.

“What does it look like, Sherlock?”

Ouch, someone had their panties all up in a bunch.

“Well, it looked like you were performing on Broadway.”

Lucas’s head snapped up, clearly not happy to see Cade in his space. He didn’t blame him. After running off and then ignoring him for two weeks, was he really expecting a warm welcome?

“Sorry,” Caden apologized. “You sounded really good singing, by the way.”

The mop stopped moving. Lucas straightened up before turning to glare at Caden.

“I don’t get it. You spent the last two weeks ignoring me; now you pretend like we are besties chilling in a bar?”

Caden felt like shit. Everything Lucas was saying was true. He had acted like an immature coward and tried to play it off as no big deal.

“Sorry. You’re right.”

“About which part?” Lucas asked, placing his hand on his hip like a parent scolding their child.

“All of it.” Caden lowered his head, ashamed of how he had reacted.

“You just ran off!”

Caden lifted his head. “What?”