Page 32 of Primal Urges (Bikers of Mayhem #1)

CADEN

T he next night, both Caden and Lucas returned to work. Caden worked security while Lucas cleaned tables and helped Alexis switch out kegs.

Everything seemed to be back to normal. Rock music played in the bar as patrons downed beers and shots of alcohol.

Caden decided to conduct a perimeter sweep of the bar. Occasionally, he would find visitors or drunk-as-fuck locals doing things they shouldn’t be doing out where anyone could see.

For the bar's sake and reputation, Marcus insisted that any questionable behavior must be conducted out of sight and preferably behind closed doors.

They didn’t judge. They just didn’t want to get their liquor license revoked or have the bar’s name splashed all over social media in a negative light. Ride ’em Hard made too much money to get the place shut down.

Walking around the back of the bar, Caden could hear moaning and grunting.

Shaking his head, he came up behind a man with his pants down around his thighs, ramming some dude hard from behind.

“Sorry, dude. You got to take this to a darker corner or something,” Caden said, placing his hand on the guy’s shoulder, causing him to pull out of the dude and nearly slap his dick against Caden’s thigh as he turned.

The other man remained bent over, hands on the wall in front of him, bare ass spread wide open.

“What the fuck?” Ace shouted, looking over his shoulder, pissed that he was no longer getting rammed into oblivion. “I was almost there, Cade!”

Caught off guard, Caden took a step back.

“Oh shit. Sorry, Ace.” Then he realized what he was saying.

“Your brother is going to kill you if he catches you fucking out in the open like this. At least go back around the bushes or something,” Caden scolded, not caring that he was basically talking to Ace’s gaping hole as he glared at him from over his shoulder.

“Argh! Fine!” Ace huffed, yanking his pants up around his waist. “Come. We’ll finish off in the back of your truck.”

Ace took the confused, burly man by the hand and led him to the far side of the parking lot.

Cade watched as the shirtless muscle daddy opened his truck door and helped Ace inside.

Just before the truck door closed, Ace’s hand shot out above the door, giving Caden the finger.

Fuck you, too, you little prick . Caden chuckled to himself as he watched the truck door slam shut and the frame begin rocking.

He walked into the bar through the back entrance and nodded to Marcus as he passed by his boss’s office. If he only knew that his little bro was out back getting railed by some muscle daddy, he probably wouldn’t be so calm.

Cade grabbed a handful of peanuts and threw them into his mouth as he walked into the main area of the bar.

Lucas was busy wiping down a table and placing an empty beer bottle into the gray bin that he carried with him.

“Busy night?” Caden asked, sliding up next to Lucas.

“Not too crazy. Just cleaning up after these pigs.” Lucas huffed, straightening up and stretching out his back. “You seen Ace? He was supposed to help me move some boxes in the back.”

Caden looked over his shoulder at the door leading into the back of the bar.

“Umm, he’s busy bonding with a customer.”

Lucas raised his left eyebrow. “In other words, he’s busy getting his prostate examined.”

“Yup,” Caden responded with a slight chuckle in his voice.

“Hey, Cade?” a rough voice said from behind him.

Cade turned around to see Sheriff Burke standing before him.

“Yeah?” Cade asked, not used to seeing the sheriff in the bar.

If they ever had trouble with customers, Cade and Nikolai always took care of the issue themselves. They never needed to involve the authorities, especially not in gang business.

“I need you to come down to the station to answer a few questions about the fire at Old Man Benson’s.”

Caden glanced over at Lucas, who looked just as confused as he was.

“Umm, sure, boss. Is everything okay?” Caden asked.

“Yeah, son. Just got a few things to ask you, is all.”

“Need me to come as well?” Lucas asked, gripping the cloth in his hand so tight that his knuckles were starting to turn white.

“No, that won’t be necessary at this time. Just need to have a quick chat with Cade. Hey, Alexis? You want to tell Marcus that Cade is coming with me and won’t be back for the remainder of his shift?”

“Why, boss? That sounds ominous,” Caden remarked, not liking how this was beginning to feel.

At that same moment, Marcus emerged from the back, looking annoyed as fuck.

“Is there a problem, Burke?” Marcus asked, crossing his arms against his chest.

“Just taking Cade in for a few follow-up questions. He’ll be back in the morning.”

Sheriff Burke took Cade by the arm and escorted him from the premises.

How bad could it be if he didn’t need handcuffs?

The interrogation room at the jail was nothing more than a tiny room that doubled as a supply closet when not being used. The walls were a dark white, most likely from years of never being cleaned, with shelves that held copy paper, paper towels, and spare mugs used for coffee.

In the center of the room was a rectangular table with two chairs on one side and one chair on the other. There was no hook to restrain criminals to the floor since this jailhouse never really got criminals bad enough to warrant chaining them down.

“Have a seat, Mr. Flanagan. Do you want a coffee?”

“Wow, so formal. Since when don’t you call me by my first name?” Caden asked, pulling out the chair and taking a seat.

“This here is official police business, so I’d like to keep it as professional as I can. Mind if we record this?”

“Not without his lawyer present,” Marcus said, following them into the interrogation room.

Sheriff Burke looked surprised to see him.

“And when is he or she coming?”

“I called her. She’s on her way now.” Marcus looked down at his watch. “Probably be here in ten minutes.”

“Okay. In that case, I’ll make myself a coffee. Want one?”

Both Cade and Marcus shook their heads. They didn’t know what was going on, and they wanted to make sure they weren’t distracted. Plus, the coffee in the precinct tasted like feet. Both Marcus and Caden had been arrested enough times to know better than to drink the coffee when offered.

Ten minutes later, Cade’s lawyer, Ms. Evelyn, arrived, taking the seat next to Caden. The sheriff began his questioning.

“Just want to make this clear: you are not being accused of anything. We just have a few questions we are hoping can clear some things up.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Caden replied, crossing his hands on the table and sitting up straight. He glanced over at Marcus, who was standing behind the sheriff and leaning against the door.

“What were you doing around four in the morning the day of the fire?”

“Sleeping. Then trying to escape the fire.”

“You were sleeping at the barn?” Sheriff Burke asked.

“Yes.”

“And why were you sleeping over?”

“We were tired.”

“Tired from what?”

Caden looked over at Marcus and his lawyer, who gave him a nod.

“Doing… adult things.”

The sheriff looked at him for a moment, confused. Then, realization seemed to set in.

“Gotcha. Okay, so what time did you say you woke up in the morning?”

“I don’t know. Maybe around four a.m.?” Caden couldn’t remember the exact time, only that it was early and still dark out.

“And why did you wake up?”

“It was getting really hot in the bedroom. When I woke up, the blanket on the bed was on fire, and I could hear Lucas screaming from downstairs.”

“And then what happened?”

“I threw the blanket onto the floor, but the damn thing fell on some books Lucas had piled on the floor, and those, too, caught on fire.”

“Did you put out the fire upstairs?”

“No, I didn’t have time to. Lucas was screaming downstairs. The walls around the bathroom were on fire.”

“What about the rest of the barn?”

“What do you mean?” Caden asked, confused.

“Were there other areas of the barn that were on fire as well?”

Caden stopped to think about the questions. Come to think of it, the fires had been on the bedspread and then around the bathroom—nowhere else.

“Just those two areas.”

“So there were just the two fires going? The bedroom and the bathroom?” Sheriff Burke asked as if reaching some sordid conclusion.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Marcus asked, taking a step forward and glaring at the sheriff.

Sheriff Burke turned to face his old friend.

“The fire marshal has deemed the fire arson. The fires were started at two points of contact. The first was started on the bed where Caden was sleeping. The second was later started outside the bathroom where Lucas was taking a piss.”

Caden looked over at Marcus.

“You said in your report that Lucas was trapped in the bathroom and couldn’t get the door open?”

Caden nodded.

“Well, it’s a good thing you were there. Otherwise, he would have burned to death in that bathroom.”

“Arson? You think that someone came into the barn while we were sleeping and set those fires deliberately?” Caden asked, his fist tightening into a ball.

“That’s what it’s looking like.” The sheriff turned his focus back on Cade. “Look, I’ve known you since you were a little tyke. I know that you’re incapable of killing someone so sweet.”

Caden noticed that the sheriff limited his comment to “someone so sweet,” not that he was incapable of killing people in general. Did that mean that the sheriff believed that he was capable of killing people only if they were bad?

He wasn’t quite sure whether he should take that as a compliment or an insult.

“Can you think of anyone who would want to do you or Lucas any harm?” the sheriff asked, flipping through his notepad and reading through his notes.

Caden glanced at Marcus. There was no way in hell that he was telling Burke who he suspected might have been behind the fire. But if his suspicions were right, he wanted the Shadow Vipers to deliver their justice.

Someone had tried to kill them. Someone was about to die.

“None that I can think of,” Caden finally said, giving Marcus the “we need to talk” look.

“Do you have any further questions, Sheriff?” Marcus asked, standing up straight and getting ready to leave.

The sheriff studied Caden’s face for a few moments before lowering his gaze and shaking his head. “No. I think we’re done for now.”

“Thank you, Sheriff,” Caden said, standing up and shaking Burke’s hand.

After exiting the building, they watched as Ms. Evelyn hopped into her BMW, waving as she drove off.

“Okay, spill it,” Marcus snarled once they were alone on the street.

The man looked terrifying when he was pissed as shit.

“Well, I have no proof or anything, and perhaps I might be wrong, but I think it might have been Lucas’s ex who set fire to the barn.”

“His ex?” Marcus asked.

“Yes. The guy was emotionally and physically abusive, and Lucas had to escape by drugging the guy and running off in the night. I don’t know much about the asshole, just that he is dangerous and connected.”

“Connected, how? As in mob-connected or politics-connected?”

“Connected as in he is a cop with a lot of corrupt friends.”

Marcus looked lost in thought as he gazed into the distance. Caden had noticed him like this before, especially when he was plotting a job or considering a complex next move.

“Okay, for now, we keep this shit to ourselves. I’ll see what I can dig up about Lucas and his ex.”

Caden agreed. There was no point in telling Lucas and having him worry if it turned out to be nothing in the end.

The fire was suspicious.