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“I saw it,” Blackheart said. “And that’s why Chains will be there... to check out more about Zaiden. Act like you’re clueless about the box’s contents. He’s got no reason to hurt you. The box is glued tight now. He won’t be able to crack it open in your presence, and he’ll think he’s dodged a bullet from what we’ve seen.”
Chains stepped up to comfort Juliette. “I’ll kill him if he so much as lays a finger on you, babe,” he said.
She was taken aback by his words, but they definitely made her feel a whole lot safer. As Juliette took the box, the gravity of the situation seemed to magnify. The box was more than just a container now – it held a shocking secret she wished she didn’t know.
Blackheart then motioned for Chains to follow him back into the office. As Juliette watched them disappear behind the door, she gripped the box tighter. She had a hunch that Blackheart’s message involved her safety... especially when it was time to hand it over to Zaiden.
“Paco will be keeping tabs,” Blackheart told Chains. “If you can talk Zaiden into going for a ride, Paco will tail you… unseen. We need to figure out his game plan once he leaves town. Given what we’ve seen in the video, I think there’s some loose ends that need tying up.”
* * *
Nathan watched as Zaiden,Chains, and Juliette rode out of Juliette’s place. Chains had Juliette clinging onto him on his bike. Zaiden didn’t even glance toward Nathan, who was just sitting in his car, as he trailed behind the pair. Nathan waited a beat or two before shooting a text to Will, giving him the lowdown on their exit route so Will could steer clear in Chains’ truck.
Just as he sent off the text, a biker with a Jokers MC jester on the back of his vest came tearing down the road, heading the same way as Zaiden, Chains, and Juliette. “Shit, that was too close,” Nathan muttered under his breath. He quickly fired off another text to Will telling him to sit tight for a few.
With his eyes constantly flicking to the road, Nathan sat there, all antsy, hoping no more Jokers would come by. After a few stressful minutes, he figured it was clear enough to go ahead with their plan. By the time Will pulled up in Chains’ truck, Nathan was already across the street and heading into Juliette’s yard.
Seeing the Jokers tailing Zaiden was nagging at him, but Nathan just shrugged it off. He didn’t give a damn about whatever problems Zaiden might have. He’d already decided he was going to cut Zaiden out sooner or later... maybe sooner if the Jokers were sniffing around him for something else.
Will and Nathan got straight to work, hauling the Indian out from the shed and up onto the truck. Will wasn’t too careful about it and ended up scratching the bike’s tank, which earned him a quick earful from Nathan. Nathan quieted down fast though, not wanting to draw attention. After they strapped the bike down good and tight, Will hopped behind the wheel and Nathan went back to his car, tailing him for a bit. They both stopped after a while, and Nathan ditched the car off the road and jumped in the truck with Will. They’d been wearing gloves the whole time to avoid leaving any fingerprints on the stolen car or at Juliette’s place.
They dropped the bike off at Nathan’s before heading back to Riverside to ditch Chains’ truck at his own place. Nathan was surprised at how smooth everything went.
He had the bike, hadn’t been spotted, and really didn’t care if he heard from Zaiden again. But if Zaiden did show up, Nathan was already thinking about digging a hole for him in the backyard.
The bike was his now, no question about it.
* * *
After a ridethat was way more fun than Zaiden expected, he told them he had to let them continue without him. He wanted to go back to his place because he was pretty sure he had a key to the box stashed among some stuff he’d brought from his grandma’s place. While they were riding, Zaiden had let his mind wander, picturing himself as a Joker with a girl like Juliette hugging him from behind on his bike. It was the first time he’d felt a twinge of regret about how things turned out for him. But, when he remembered what was supposed to be going down at Juliette’s place while they were out cruising, he quickly shook off those thoughts. He figured he could let his mind go there another day when he was miles away from Louisiana.
As he waved them off, thanking them for the good times and Juliette for the box, he felt a pang of guilt about the surprise waiting for her back home. He watched them ride off and just sat there on his bike for a bit, contemplating the fact that he was feeling guilty for the first time in his life. Then he fired up his Harley and hit the road home, clueless to the fact that another biker had been tailing them from a distance all day.
* * *
Zaiden staredat the dead guy sprawled out on his floor. He hadn’t planned on killing the man, but when he opened the door and was face to face with the same biker who’d slapped the tracker on his Harley, he didn’t stop to talk. Before he could get a word out, Zaiden had pulled him inside, whirling him around and cracking him on the back of his head while reaching for the knife he had hidden in his pant leg. It turned out he didn’t need the knife. The biker had smacked his head on the stove’s corner and then hit it again when he crumpled to the floor. It was the second time Zaiden had accidentally killed someone before getting the info he needed from them. This time, he wanted to know why the hell he was being tailed.
Zaiden started digging through the guy’s pockets. His name was Paco. He had that Hispanic look about him, but what really threw Zaiden was when he pulled open the man’s vest and spotted his name under the words “Jokers MC, Louisiana” on his shirt. Damn, he’d killed a Joker. One of Chains’ brothers. Now he was torn between sticking around to get his cut of the sale of the Indian or skipping town... maybe even the country. Canada was looking like a pretty sweet option right now... if he wanted to keep breathing, that is. “How the hell am I going to ditch this body?” he wondered.
* * *
Juliette and Chainsrolled back into her place after their ride, a little beat but feeling pretty good. All she was craving was a long soak in the tub, some food, a glass of wine, and a cozy night with her man. Her legs felt like jelly from being on the bike for so long – she wasn’t used to it. When Chains noticed her shaky legs, he scooped her up and carried her around the back of the house to the shed, with her giggling the whole way.
The day had stirred up old memories of her maw, back when she used to ride pillion on the Indian with her arms wrapped around her, feeling like the luckiest little girl in the world.
When Chains set her down on her feet, she reached to unlock the door, only to find it wasn’t locked. Again. She was absolutely certain she hadn’t left it like that, and her heart did a little jump as a bunch of tiny moments flashed by. The last time the shed was unlocked, Zaiden coming from the back of the house, the neighbor’s dog kicking up a fuss when she got home, and that ripped denim on the fence. And then there was the tear in Zaiden’s jeans.
She could feel her nerves starting to jangle, and Chains picked up on it. So he leaned in and swung the door open, ready to take on anyone who might be inside.
Nobody was there. But when he stepped aside to let her in, her heart sank. The spot where her beloved bike used to sit was totally empty, no trace of the vintage machine that held so many memories for her and her maw. A mixture of shock and heartache washed over her, and she stood there, frozen in disbelief.
Her voice shook as she said, “Chains, it’s gone. Someone’s stolen it.”
Chains told her to stay put and he bolted out, scanning the property for any signs of intruders. As he walked back in, he was thumbing a text into his phone. She asked him if he’d spotted anyone, but he just shook his head. Once he’d hit send on his text, he moved to comfort her, telling her, “We’ll get it back.”
“But how?” she asked. “It could be anywhere by now.”
“Just trust me. We’ll get it back.”
