Page 47

“I’m fine.” Charley walked him to the door. And he turned, snapping his fingers.

“Don’t forget. Dinner at Dahlia and Trey’s this week on Sunday. She wanted me to remind you.”

Remind me? Charley knew nothing about it. It must’ve showed on her expression because Sal chuckled, shaking his head.

“Guess Nash forgot to mention it. Every Sunday, the family gets together for dinner. Good food and a good time. You’ll like it. See you then.”

“Okay.” She smiled and watched him walk out the door and to the car waiting. She recognized Ridge and gave a small wave.

His face softened, and he lowered his chin as he closed the door, walking around to the driver’s side of the SUV.

****

Two fucking days.

It had been a struggle to be patient. But now his time had come.

He hadn’t expected Oz to join him, or Rogue and Trey, for that matter.

When he arrived at Killcreek’s safe house, they were all waiting.

He walked up to the house, surprised to see Rogue and Ace in the same vicinity and not arguing. Maybe times were changing.

“About fucking time, Nash! You think I want to spend my night in this shithole town with these fucking assholes?” Rogue shouted.

Or maybe not.

Everyone ignored Rogue’s outburst, and they entered the house with Ace taking the lead. Each room was heavily guarded by a member of the club who fell in line as they walked to the back of the house and down the stairs to the basement.

It was musty and damp with a faint smell of blood. This was not the first time this house had been used to silence people. And it wouldn’t be the last.

There were a few brothers around the perimeter of the open space.

The two officers, Mitchell and Becker, were seated in chairs in the middle of the room.

They’d been worked over. Dried blood and swelling on each of their faces.

Their clothes were dirty and ripped in a few places.

They’d taken beatings, but as promised, they were still breathing.

For now.

Nash stopped a few feet away, watching their features shift to shock as they eyed each man entering the room.

Ace spread out his arms, taunting the officers. “You’ve got us all in one room. Isn’t this what you wanted?”

Rogue laughed, walking closer and circling around them.

“If a whole fleet of cops and feds stormed this room right now, you fuckers would be hailed as heroes. Get your name in the paper, be on the fucking news giving interviews. Fuck, they’d probably organize a parade in your honor.

” Rogue looked over at the staircase leading to the door. “But that’s not fucking happening.”

“We gave you everything you wanted,” Mitchell said to Ace.

Nash moved closer, narrowing his gaze. “Now you’ll give me what I want. Charley Hudson.”

He blinked, sharing a look with Becker. “We didn’t fucking touch that girl.”

Nash arched his brow. “No, you just set her up to take the fall for her brother.”

“Fuck,” Becker muttered under his breath. “What? What do you want?”

“Details,” Oz said. “We know you made a deal with Cody to act as an informant. Start there.”

Mitchell shifted in his chair. “We picked Cody up a few months ago. He’d been running with Zeke for a while.

We saw our in. He had a clean record and wasn’t affiliated, so he was a perfect informant.

He agreed to sign on without hesitation.

We may have under-investigated the situation.

We figured he was a casual user. Didn’t realize until we were deeper in that he’d been an addict for years. ”

Nash folded his arms. “Yet, you still moved forward.”

“Hey, man. We sent the kid to a program to get him clean.”

“Aren’t you a fucking saint,” Rogue snapped.

Nash moved closer. “You did that for your own gain. And news fucking flash, asshole. Thirty days isn’t gonna do shit for an addict with eight years under his belt. But I think you knew that. Just had to keep him clean until he no longer served a purpose. Right?”

“Look, we invested a lot of fucking time with this kid and the operation. He was holding a lot of product for Zeke. We couldn’t just bail.

” Mitchell drew in a breath. “And we thought he had enough of a healthy fear to cut back on the shit. It was all working according to plan. Until” —He paused, clearing his throat— “He had an altercation with his sister.”

“Altercation?” Nash snapped and stalked forward. “Is that what you said? A fucking altercation? He tried to strangle her.”

He held up his hands. “How could we have predicted that was going to happen?”

“Isn’t it your job to be one step ahead in an operation like this?” Trey asked.

“Up until that night, we’d never seen any signs of violence. He’d been acting off a few days leading up to the bust on Zeke, but we were so fucking close. We couldn’t just shut it down.”

Had they, Charley would’ve never been attacked or had to deal with any of the events of the aftermath. Nash balled his fists, trying to regain a semblance of control. He’d get his revenge.

“What happened to the product?” he asked.

Becker looked directly at Nash. “We took it with us when we got Cody outta there.”

Nash clenched his jaw. “You set this whole thing up with no thought to how it would play out for her. You had to know that Zeke would come back for the stash, and she was left alone with no protection or knowledge. What the fuck did you think was going to happen?”

“There were missteps,” Mitchell said.

That sent Nash over the edge. This wasn’t a misstep, this was total disregard for someone innocent in the situation.

My fucking woman! Nash lunged forward, reared back his fist, and slammed it directly into Mitchell’s jaw.

He flew back, falling off the chair. But Nash wasn’t done.

Not even close. He gripped the man by the throat, knocking his head into the floor twice.

“I would love nothing more than to gut you. Start at the throat and cut you down to your stomach. Rip out your fucking heart and send it to your wife in a box with a fancy fucking red bow.”

“Well fuck, I’m not opposed to that idea,” Rogue said.

“No,” Nash said. “That would take too much time and effort. I’m content with no one ever finding your bodies.”

Becker jerked in his chair, his gaze darting between all the men and landing on Ace.

“We gave you everything you wanted. You said if we cooperated, you’d let us go.”

Ace pulled a cigarette box out from his pocket, took one, and lit it, taking a slow drag before releasing the smoke. “I lied.”

Mitchell scrambled to his knees. “They’ll look for us.”

“Maybe for a little while.” Nash stalked across the room and bent down, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands, smirking. “But they’ll never find you.”

“You want our disappearances linked to the organization?” Mitchell countered.

Ace and a few members laughed. “Nobody is gonna give a shit about two shady fucking cops. The force will probably thank us for taking out the garbage. And we’ve done our own investigation.

Family won’t be a problem.” Ace turned to Becker.

“Your wife is swallowing another man’s dick every time you work overtime, and you?

” He pointed to Mitchell. “The missus has never quite forgiven you for the indiscretion that gave her the fucking clap. She’s just biding her time with you, waiting on that pension. And she’ll get it.”

“Fuck you!” Mitchell said, spit forming in the corner of his mouth.

The corner of Nash’s mouth curled. “You made sure to keep your little operation quiet. Maybe a little too quiet? There’s no paperwork. No documents. No fucking record of any of this.”

Nash straightened, opened his jacket, and grabbed his gun from his waistband. He cocked it and aimed it at Mitchell. Ace stepped up next to him with his gun in hand.

“You don’t mind if I join you, brother?” He lifted his gun, making Becker his target.

“Not at all.”

Lights out motherfuckers!

*

Nash offered his security for clean-up, but Ace declined.

“We got this.”

It was over. Cody was in rehab, Zeke was in the custody of Killcreek, and Mitchell and Becker would never be a threat again. Charley was finally safe, and Nash had gotten his revenge.

He walked out behind Oz with Ace at his side.

“I appreciate this. I owe you.”

Ace snorted. “And we plan on collecting real soon. Inez is expecting you.”

Nash halted his steps, turning to the president of the club. “When?”

Ace arched his brow. “We’ll be in touch.”

Nash watched the bikers make their way over to their bikes then turned to Oz.

“Do you know what this favor will be?” Nash asked.

“No, but considering Ace’s confidence, it will probably be a big one on our end. Keep me posted. I’ll attend that meeting.”

Nash snickered, catching Oz’s attention. “I thought you’d met your Inez quota.”

His gaze hardened. “I’ll make an exception. And you will owe me.”

Fair enough. Nash walked over to his car and had settled in his seat when his phone pinged. He tapped the screen. It was the message he’d been waiting on.

Sal: Had a good visit with your girl.

Nash had reached out to Sal. He was the closest ally but separated enough that it would’ve been believable. Someday, he’d give Charley all the details of what had gone down. But for now, he’d just give her the good stuff.

Nash: Thank you, sir.

Sal: For Christ’s sake, Nash. I can’t even get you to drop the ‘sir’ in a text?

Nash snickered and another message immediately came through.

Sal: Don’t forget Sunday dinner. Your girl seemed excited when I told her. Don’t let her down, son.

Nash sighed. This wasn’t the first time he’d been invited to Sunday dinner with Oz, Rogue, and Trey. Since the arrival of Dahlia, it had become a weekly ritual. Nash had gone a few times, but it wasn’t mandatory. It seemed that had changed with the arrival of Charley.

Nash: We’ll be there.