I lean forward, putting my elbows on my knees. I know I don’t have to worry about cameras in here because Taz isn’t tech-smart enough to think about putting some in here. Oh, he’s got cameras everywhere in the clubhouse, even in places you wouldn’t imagine, but he’s got himself a little bit of a voyeur kink. I think that tells you enough about why and where he’s put them. Focus, man.
I look back at the man of the hour, and he continues to stay silent. I don’t blame him. I don’t think talking would help him with that lot out there. “I’m gonna tell you some shit that’s gonna blow your mind right now. I’m gonna need you to let me get it all out before you say anything, but since you haven’t said a word, I’m thinking that’s not gonna be a problem.” He raises an eyebrow to let me know he’s listening.
“I’m gonna help you get outta here, but I’m going to fill you in on some shit first.” I can see he’s surprised but waits for me to continue. “I’ve been with the club for a little more than two years. In that time, I’ve been helping build a trafficking caseagainst them. I have enough to put almost all of them away for a very, very long time. However, I can’t just disappear. Even these idiots would think something was up.” He finally speaks. “How in the hell do I know you’re not just saying this shit to get me to talk and spill some shit? Not that I know why the fuck I’m here to begin with.”
“You have something that Taz thinks is his or that he’s entitled to. A box. A box that, according to him, has a paper stating that he’s entitled to all his uncle’s property. His uncle, who apparently went by Joseph, according to the people up here.”
Erik
Well fuck. That’s why this place looks familiar. It’s the same fucking cellar that…well, it’s the one they’ve always used for less than legal shit. This guy definitely doesn’t look as dirty or smarmy as the other guys. “Joseph bore a lot of kids up on this mountain. How does he think he’s the only descendant and that this would all be his? And I’m gonna need your name because I’m pretty damn sure it isn’t actually Spade.”
The guy, who I’m guessing is in his early thirties, raises an eyebrow at me before he answers. “Well, since Joseph isn’t his legal name and he tried to stay mostly under the radar…” Oh shit. I finish his sentence while thinking out loud. “Most of them were born up here and don’t have a birth certificate. If they did,he didn’t get put on it.” He nods at me. “Yep. The people up here only know him as Joseph. They didn’t even know he didn’t own the property that’s left up here till after he died. Taz is sure the paperwork is in some box he swore you took. He only remembers his uncle from when he was a kid. Sounds like he had to lie low off the mountain for a bit and stayed at his sister’s for a few months. During that time, he filled his head with promises of money, riches, and land that would be his someday. I’m thinking the parts that still are part of this…this crazy cult or whatever you want to call it…the land that is still left? I think Joseph didn’t own it. He fucking sold everything he did own during his lifetime because his schemes never worked, so he would need money.”
Everything he’s saying makes sense, plus, from what I know is in the box, he really did run his group on empty promises and pipe dreams. “Oh, and I’m Braxton Zanick.” That last name rings a bell, but I couldn’t tell you from where at the moment.
“Well, Braxton, what’s your plan for getting me the fuck out of here?” I’m going to hold off on sharing the knowledge of the contents of the box till I can be more sure he’s really out to help me. This ain’t the time to be overly trusting.
“I know that Lennie smashed your phone, but they didn’t bother to check, and I happen to know you’ve got another phone in your boot. Thankfully, you had that shit on silent so they wouldn’t find it. I can’t do shit tonight because there’s no fucking serviceup here. But what I’m thinking is when he has me head down the hill tomorrow to run some errand like he always does, I’ll contact your family and get them to come up here and get you. I can’t blow my cover, but I’m gonna do whatever I can to help you get outta here. Taz thinks he’s some sort of evil genius, but the fucker is oblivious to shit around him. If he was smarter, he would know that more than half the money they get for the shit goes up the nose of quite a few brothers. Same reason some of their deliveries lately have been short.”
He looks at my boot and up at me, and I nod to give him permission because he’s honestly my only real shot at this point.
“Oh, and why the hell does your wife want you dead?” What? I must show my shocked face. “Technically, she’s my ex-wife, but I didn’t know she wanted me dead. How the hell do you know her?”
He fills me in on all the shit my lovely ex-wife is doing and the promises she made to the club. How she got involved in them, who knows, but her greed knows no fucking bounds. We make a plan for her, though it sounds like she’s doing what she does best and is about out of favor with the club, even though she’s promised them money. Funny thing is the insurance policy she thinks she has? I canceled it when I decided to file for divorce. There is one for each of us, but it has the boys as the beneficiaries and is one I got when Jeremiah was born. It’s amazing what youdon’t know when you don’t work and don’t pay any of the bills or help with financing for your own family for decades.
Braxton puts my phone in his pocket and leans back like he’s just been staring at me all this time when the door opens. In walks the man who goes by Taz. He’s flanked by String Bean, and Lennie, who I’m guessing doesn’t get where his nickname came from. Behind them is Celeste and she’s got a shit-eating grin on her face.
Taz speaks up first. “He do any talkin’ at all?” Spade shakes his head. “Nah, Prez. He hasn’t said a fuckin’ word.” I watch him walk over to the chair next to where Spade is sitting and point to me. “Time to have a little discussion with our visitor. Lennie, get your tools ready while we chat.” The big lug walks over to a bench, and I really don't want to know what he’s getting ready, because I have a feeling it can only mean pain.
Taz sits down in the empty chair next to Spade/Braxton. “I understand from your wife here that you’re the son of the couple who started this whole thing with my uncle.” I speak a single word without even thinking. “Ex.”
Taz tilts his head as he studies me. “What was that?” I can’t help myself, maybe because I have a feeling Celeste is behind a lot of this shit, and I’m done. Done with being nice. Done with dealing with her, and thankfully, done with fucking being married to her. “Ex-wife. The divorce was final today.” I can see that Celeste didn’t realize we’d be officially divorced already. I can’t help butcontinue to speak if only to get their anger pointed toward her. Self-preservation and all. “We are no longer married, and the life insurance policy she tried to offer you if you took care of me? Well, I canceled that about a month before I filed for divorce. There is no policy on me that pays out to her at all. She would’ve known that too if she bothered to pay attention to our finances, but she was more focused on whichever doctor she was fucking at the time.”
Taz whips his head in her direction and she’s about to try and talk herself out of this situation. “No! He’s lying! I have the paperwork to prove it!” She really think that matters? Hell, these two are peas in a pod. Assuming what they know from minimal information is true, both are about to find out the hard way just how wrong the two of them are. “That paperwork is from before I canceled it. If you don’t believe me, call them up and see for yourself. Though even if I didn’t cancel it, it has in its fine print that divorce makes it null, and the policy payout would go to whoever is the next of kin. Either way, it ain’t fucking you.”
Celeste stomps her foot like a spoiled child and yells in frustration before she runs over and smacks me upside my head. “You always ruin everything! I was supposed to be rid of you and have my money so I can take off and never have to see a person again from this fucking hellhole of a town! I hate it all!” She reaches back as if she’s going to smack me again, but Lennie picks her up. Taz tells him to take her and secure her. “We needto find out if he’s right. Because if there ain’t no money, I ain’t spending one more second dealing with her ass.”
He looks back at me. “Tell Brander to get in here while you’re out there. I’m sure the fire has his brand all nice and hot. Time to make our guest have a conversation with us.”Fuck.This is gonna get a lot worse before it can possibly get better. I just hope I make it through the bad to the better. Grant has to know just how much I love him and how he’s made these last few months some of the best in my entire life. My boys have to know how proud they make me every day by being good men, knowing the importance of family and giving someone your word. If nothing else, I can leave this earth knowing they’re what I did right on this planet. I just really hope I get to tell them that myself in person.
Grant
It’s been almost twenty-four hours, and we still have no fucking idea what happened to Erik or where he is. My heart aches. I can’t sleep or eat or do anything but worry. If those fuckers got him, I will hunt each and every one of them down, and I’ll take care of them slowly and methodically.
Leif and Jeremiah are sitting at the table next to me in the clubhouse, along with most of the brothers. Samson and Saxon haven’t left my side for more than a few minutes. Samson evenbrought his laptop out here to work and search for who knows what. Jonah’s been a constant next to me, just being there for support. He knows better than to promise things he can’t guarantee, but also knows this is the time to pray to the gods.
Linnea keeps busy by making food and coffee, but even she sits and worries with all of us. We’ve gone out looking more than a couple of times in hopes that maybe he walked away from his bike, though we all fucking know that he wouldn’t do that.
Linnea walks around refilling everyone’s coffee with Kinsley and Christy behind her with finger foods for the guys to nibble on. Ry comes in from the other room and sits at the table across from me with a look on his face that tells me he’s got an idea. It only takes a moment for him to speak up. “I was tossing a few possibilities around in my head while I was searching online.” He pauses and rubs his chin, as if he’s hesitant to say what he’s thinking, which is very rare for him. Saxon must see this too. “Just spit it out. What the hell are you thinking?”
Ry looks at me, and I know I’m not gonna like what he has to say. “Is there any way that Celeste could’ve convinced him to drop everything and run away with her?” My words come out immediately. “Did the devil jump up in your brain for a second, or are you having a fucking stroke?”
Jonah looks at Ry. “Son, that’s about as dumb a question as humanly possible. What in the world made you think that’s even a remote possibility?” I turn my head toward Jonah so fast, heholds his hands up toward me. “Not that I think that’s even a possibility. Brother, we all know he finally washed his hands of her months ago.”
I turn back toward Ry. He sighs and answers Jonah’s question. “Only reason I even bring it up is you always taught us to look at all angles of a situation. When I was looking up Celestercist’s search history, she had been looking up places in Florida a lot in the last few months. Just had to cover all the bases.” Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the dumbest question ever, but I know in my heart and my gut that Erik would never go back. I know he loves me and loves us together. I know he wouldn’t do that, not when it could’ve happened months ago, and he didn’t even blink at that being a possibility anywhere in his mind.
Jeremiah leans forward and looks between Ry and me. “Dad wouldn’t go back, but what if Mom tried to get him over to the house for some reason or if Mom was involved in some way? Has anyone gone over and spoken to our neighbor Gretchen? She always notices whatever goes on in the neighborhood. She’s always hated Mom and liked to chat with Dad whenever she could.”
Leif stands up and looks at his brother. “Let’s go talk to her. I can’t sit around here waiting anymore. I gotta do something.” They both get up to leave, though Jon tells Mick and Jameson to go with them. He wants us to travel in groups in case it’s someone coming after the club. He’s not taking any chances.
