Текст книги "Command"

Автор книги: Nina Levine

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Текущая страница: 8 (всего у книги 14 страниц)

11

Scott

The last thing I wanted to be doing was checking in on a woman who’d been nothing but a pain in my ass since we’d first met. It’s funny what the woman you love can convince you to do. However, as I stood in Scarlett’s tiny kitchen and listened to what she had to say, I sensed there was something to her concerns.

“Tell me exactly what he said,” I demanded. She’d just described a run-in she had that day with a guy in a supermarket car park, and he sounded like he had ties to Julio.

“He threatened to disable my brother if he didn’t pay up within two days, and then he said he knew I was connected to Storm and that I should tell you guys to watch your backs.”

I frowned. “I thought you’d paid your brother’s debt?”

Her shoulders tensed. “I did. This is a new debt.”

“Fuck,” Wilder muttered. “Why are you paying his debts?”

“Because he’s dead if I don’t,” she stated, as if the answer was obvious.

“Have you got the cash?” I asked.

She swallowed hard and met my gaze. “No. I’ve got some, but not all of it.”

“Okay, let’s back this up. Did he say anything else? We need something more so we can figure out who he is,” I said, my mind racing as I tried to piece this together. It had to be someone either watching her or watching us, and my bet was on someone watching us.

She rubbed the back of her neck and I caught sight of Wilder’s attention being diverted to her chest. I didn’t give a shit what he did with his time, but I needed his attention completely on Storm at the moment, so I shook my head at him when I caught his gaze. He nodded and quickly glanced back at her face.

“He didn’t say anything else to me, but I did overhear him on the phone as he walked away from me…something about a Julio,” she finally said, giving us the name we needed.

I pulled my phone out to call Griff, however the sound of glass smashing diverted my attention. Wilder reached for his gun at the same time I reached for mine.

Signalling to him, I said, “Front window?”

“Sounds like it, brother.”

“Stay here while we investigate,” I said to Scarlett and after she’d nodded her agreement, we headed to the front of her apartment.

Scarlett’s apartment was old and shabby, as were the sheer curtains on her front windows. Along with the outside light she had left on, they made it easy to see the two guys standing on the front balcony. A gush of wind caused the curtain to blow to the side just as one of the guys spotted us and raised his gun to take aim.

“Fuck!” I yelled, at the same time as Wilder shoved me to the ground.

The gun sounded and thankfully the bullet missed us. I scrambled to my feet and closed the distance to the front door. Yanking it open, I ducked to avoid the fist coming my way. And then another gun sounded, confusing the hell out of me because it wasn’t either of these two guys, and it sounded like it came from behind us.

“Get the fuck out of my apartment!” Scarlett yelled, and tension punched through me at the thought of her getting caught up in this.

“Jesus, Scott, she’s got a fucking gun!” Wilder roared.

He wasn’t telling me anything I didn’t know, and while I wanted to go to her and rip that gun from her hands and tell her to get the fuck back, I was dealing with more pressing matters – one guy trying to knock me out and another waving a gun around.

As I straightened, I punched the guy in his stomach.

“Motherfucker,” he yelled, stumbling backwards.

Aiming my gun at both of them, I thundered, “Who the fuck are you?” I didn’t recognise either of them, cementing my belief they were from Julio’s crew, but I needed confirmation.

“It doesn’t matter who we are, all that matters is why we’re here,” the guy with the gun snarled as he raised it at me.

“Why you’re here is pretty fuckin’ clear,” I snapped. My brain worked overtime trying to figure out how the fuck this was going to go down.

He smirked. “Nothing’s ever as it seems.”

What the hell?

My finger twitched on the trigger of the gun, but I refrained from pulling it. I needed to confirm who they were. However, before I could do that, Scarlett pulled the trigger on her gun, and all hell broke loose.

She shot at the roof, but it spooked the two guys and the one with the gun also fired his. Thank fuck my reflexes were quick – I ducked in time to avoid being shot.

“Fuck, Wilder, can you restrain her?” I yelled.

“I’m already on it,” he threw back and I blocked out their arguing as I did my best to defend all three of us.

I lifted my leg and kicked the guy in front of me as hard as I could in the stomach, which pushed him backwards into the one with the gun. He dropped the gun, so before either had a chance to recover, I moved to kick it out of reach. They were scrambling to get to their feet, and the panic I read on their faces put my mind at ease. It looked like I was about to get to the bottom of who sent them.

Standing over them, I aimed my gun again, and demanded, “Tell me who the fuck you work for or – ” I directed my gun at one of the guy’s dicks, “ – shit’s about to get real fuckin’ messy.”

Fear sliced across his face and he held his hands up. “Stop! It’s Julio…he sent us.”

“Why?” I asked, keeping my gun aimed at his dick.

He opened his mouth to speak, but his mate silenced him by slitting his throat from behind with a knife I’d never seen coming. As the guy slumped back with blood oozing from his throat, his mate shoved his body to the side so he could stand. Everything happened so fast – one minute I had the situation under control, and the next the tables had been turned.

I did the only thing I could in that moment – I shot him.

As his breath was stolen from him, so too was our chance at gaining new information about Julio.

I raked my fingers through my hair and turned to face Wilder. He held Scarlett around her waist, but now that the threat had been erased, he let her go.

“You good?” I asked her.

“Yeah, but damn that’s a mess,” she said, nodding at the dead men and blood on the floor of her apartment.

Wilder stepped over the bodies and closed the front door. Eyeing me, he said, “We need to get this shit cleaned up before any cops turn up.”

I called Griff. “We need some help here, brother,” I said when he answered.

After I filled him in on what had happened and he told me J and Nash were on their way, he said, “This complicates shit.”

“Yeah.”

“We need to start calling in favours, Scott. Once Julio figures this out, we’re gonna need our backs covered.”

Fuck.

Not the way I wanted shit to go down.

12

Scott

I stood at the end of our bed and watched as Harlow slid her dress over her head. Something was different about her, but I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it. After I’d dealt with the mess at Scarlett’s home last night, I’d headed straight back to Trilogy and she’d been beside herself with worry. I’d never seen her so consumed with fear before, but hadn’t been able to convince her to share those fears with me.

As she smoothed her dress, she looked over at me. “How long do you think Scarlett will have to stay here with us?”

I’d made the decision to bring Scarlett with us when we left her apartment last night. No way was she safe in her own place. Not until we dealt with Julio. “Hopefully not long.” I hadn’t shared with her the events of last night except to let her know Scarlett wasn’t safe.

She watched me for another couple of moments before finally nodding and saying, “Okay.”

I moved to where she stood and wrapped my hand around her wrist, halting her as she took a step away from me. “Are you pissed off with me for bringing her here?” I couldn’t read her and it frustrated me.

“No.” She tried to pull her wrist free, but I gripped it tighter.

Christ.

Why won’t she talk to me?

Pulling her close, I ran my free hand through her hair. “Harlow, what’s going on? You’ve been off ever since I got back from Scarlett’s last night.”

She sighed. “It will sound stupid.”

“Try me.”

After a moment of hesitation, she finally opened up. “I have this weird feeling deep in my gut that something bad is going to happen to you. Last night I was really worried and then you came back with Scarlett and said she wasn’t safe, and I’m still feeling sick with worry. You never exaggerate things, so for you to bring her here tells me you’re worried, too.”

I let her wrist go. “It’s true, I am worried. But we have this covered¸ so I want you to go to work and try not to think about it too much, okay?”

Her eyes searched mine and then she said, “I will.”

“Can you take Scarlett with you? I don’t have enough men to spare one to stay with her today.”

“I’m happy for her to come to the café with me, but good luck convincing her to do anything.”

She had a point – convincing Scarlett to leave her apartment last night had been a tough gig. “I’ve got an idea of how to talk her into it. Let’s see if she goes for it.”

Loud banging on the front door interrupted our conversation, and I left her to see who it was.

“Mr Cole, we finally meet.” Two cops stood on the other side of the door. I knew they were detectives because I’d come across one of them before.

I planted my legs wide and crossed my arms over my chest. “What can I do for you?”

The short, pudgy one at the front that I’d never met before took a step to enter the house, but I put my arm out to block him. He raised his brows. “We’ve got things to discuss.”

I didn’t budge. “Those things can be discussed here.”

A scowl flashed across his face. “Some new evidence has come to light with regards to your father’s death.”

“What kind of evidence?” They’d come up with nothing solid so far, and I suspected they were simply on a fishing expedition.

His chin jutted as smugness glinted in his eyes. “Evidence that points to your club.”

Bullshit.

We’d made sure there was no evidence.

I kept my arms crossed. “So you’re going to interview me?”

A brief flicker of hesitation passed over his face and he stalled for a second. Not the body language of a confident man. He tried to cover it, but I didn’t miss it. “Not a formal interview yet, but we would like to talk to you about it and – ”

I cut him off. “Either you call me in for an interview or we don’t talk. I’m not talking to you off the record.”

The tall detective at the back who was familiar to me, but who I was having trouble placing, took over. “We’ll be in touch.” Even his voice was familiar, but my memory was a tangled mess and I couldn’t place him. He tapped the short one on the shoulder to indicate they were leaving, and in that moment, I realised he held the power in that relationship.

I called Griff as I watched them leave. “You had any cops sniffing around about Marcus’s death?”

“No. Have you?”

“Yeah. Harlow told me they called around while I was away, and they’ve just shown up again, saying they have new evidence that points to the club. When I called their bluff they caved. They also sussed Mum out, but she didn’t give them anything. I’m just trying to figure out what their game is because we covered our tracks thoroughly.”

He was quiet for a moment and then said, “I’ll do some digging, see what I can find out.”

We ended the call and I headed back into the house to find Harlow. I ran into Scarlett on the way, and took a moment to talk to her about spending the day at the café.

“I need you to hang out with Harlow today so I can be sure of your safety. You good with that?”

She frowned. “Not really what I had planned for the day.”

The woman is a pain in my ass.

“What do you have planned?”

“I need to find my brother and make sure he’s okay.”

“So how about you let me do that while you go with Harlow?”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “Really?”

I raked my fingers through my hair. It was going to be a long, fucking day. “Yes, really.”

She rested her weight on one foot and cocked her head. “Why would you do that for me?”

“Jesus, Scarlett, are you this untrusting with everyone?”

“Yes.”

“Well you’re gonna have to ease up a little with me and start putting some faith in what I say. We’re all in this shit together now. I can keep you safe, but that’s gonna involve you doing what I say. And no more fuckin’ guns when I’m in the middle of handling a situation.”

We watched each other while she worked that through in her mind. Eventually, she said, “Okay, but can you do me a favour?”

“Fuck, as if I’m not already doing you one?” The woman was something else.

She threw me a glare. “Can you lend me some money so I can pay off his debt?”

I blew out a long breath. “Scarlett, I’m going to sort shit so that your brother has no fuckin’ debt to pay off, and then I’m going to sort more shit so that he never gets a fuckin’ debt again.” I raised my brows at her. “You good with that?”

“You’re a moody biker, aren’t you?”

Harlow had joined us and snorted.

I ignored her.

“Give me your brother’s address,” I said as I pulled out my phone to store it in.

“You know, manners never went out of fashion,” she muttered.

Harlow’s snort turned into a laugh and as she walked past us, she threw over her shoulder, “I think having you here is going to be fun, Scarlett.”

Scarlett and I glared at Harlow’s back before she finally gave me her brother’s address.

I typed it into my phone and then shot back at whoever the fuck was listening, “I’m not seeing any fuckin’ joy in this situation.”

Women.

“Motherfucker!” I roared as we received yet another rejection. We’d spent the last four hours trying to call in favours around town and most had said they couldn’t chance giving Storm their support against Julio who had already found a way to blackmail them into taking his back.

Griff rubbed the back of his neck. “We’re running out of options here, brother. And when I do finally get the chance, I’m gonna take great fucking delight in making Julio feel pain for this.”

My phone rang and as I answered it, I said to Griff, “It’s Colt, hopefully he has some good news for us.” He’d also been trying to find support for Storm.

“Got some bad news for you, Scott,” he said, “Most of the guys I’ve spoken to today say their hands are tied, so at this point I’ve only been able to convince two crews to take our back.”

“We’ve had the same,” I told him. “You done with your list yet?”

“I’ve got one more to visit and then I’m heading back to the clubhouse.”

“Thanks, man.”

I hung up and eyed Griff. “He’s got two so far.”

“It’s fucked, but at least it’s better than none. Have you spoken to Blade yet?”

I shook my head. “No, but I will be.”

My phone sounded with a text.

Harlow: I know you’re busy but wanted to let you know that Lisa and Michelle are doing much better today. I checked in on them after you left this morning.

Me: Thanks, baby. You girls okay?

Harlow: Yes, but I’m disappointed.

Me: Why?

Harlow: You didn’t practice your proposal last night.

Me: It’s on my list for tonight.

Harlow: Good. Just wanted to make you smile. Hope your day isn’t too shitty.

Me: Trust me, you made me smile. See you tonight.

As I sent my last text to Harlow, Bourne called me.

“What’s up, Bourne?” I asked, keen to get this phone call over with fast.

“I’m wondering where you and I stand? I never did hear back from you after you left Adelaide.”

“I’m putting together a plan to deal with Julio.”

“Good. The sooner the better.”

“Let’s get one thing straight here, Bourne – once this is done, you’ll owe me, and when I come calling on that favour, you won’t hesitate to say no.” No need for him to know I was already working on this plan before he asked me to do it.

Silence for a moment, and then – “Agreed.”

“I’ll let you know when it’s done.” I hung up without waiting for his response.

“Just for the record, again, I truly despise that asshole,” Griff said.

I let the tension in my body go, and blew out a harsh breath. “I’m with you on that.”

After we left the last place we visited, we walked the block back to where we left our bikes. Reaching for his helmet, Griff said, “You wanna try Scarlett’s brother again?”

We had visited his place this morning and he wasn’t home. I nodded. “Yeah, let’s see if we have better luck this time. And then we need to check in with J and Nash to see if they have anything new on Julio.”

Surely we’ve gotta have some luck somewhere today.

Scarlett’s brother, Bailey, lived in what could best be described as a hovel. When we arrived there the second time for the day, it was clear someone had visited him since our first visit. Where his house had been closed up earlier, the front door had been kicked in since and the place had been trashed. And Bailey was still nowhere to be seen.

I called Scarlett. “Your brother still isn’t home. Do you have any idea where else he might be?”

“He mainly hangs out at a local pub when he’s not working, and sometimes he’s at his on-off girlfriend’s place. I’m not sure if they’re together at the moment, though.”

“Can you text me those addresses and I’ll check them out?”

She agreed and we ended the call.

Griff was poking around in the kitchen and looked up as I entered the small room. “This guy’s got a bad addiction. I don’t reckon Scarlett’s got a chance in hell of helping him kick it.”

I had to agree with him. Bailey’s kitchen counter was littered with used needles and other shit. Not only was he a junkie, he was a dirty fuck who didn’t like to clean up after himself.

My phone began ringing and Griff eyed it. “Jesus, your phone never shuts up.”

Blade.

“Tell me this is good news,” I said as I answered him.

“Sorry, can’t do that.” The tense strain in his voice was undeniable – Blade had more bad news for us.

“Fuck,” I muttered.

“It’s Rogue.”

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the way his words came out. “What?” I urged.

“Harlow asked me to look into him while you were away. She had an off feeling about him and she was right. He’s working against you, helping Julio. And on top of that, he’s wanted for multiple rapes. Seems he’s gotten himself into some shit while he’s been away from the club.”

My body stilled.

Rogue’s with Harlow at the moment.

My mind slammed into my heart and nausea coursed through me. And then the sound of gunfire rang out, and everything blurred as Griff and I battled bullets.

13

Harlow

“So, you’ve told Scott you’re pregnant?” Scarlett asked as we loaded the dishwasher in the café kitchen.

“No, not yet,” I admitted quietly.

“Shit, girl, when are you going to tell him?”

“I was going to do it last night, but then he came home from your place all stressed and it just didn’t feel like the right time to do it.”

“I don’t think there is a right time for this kind of conversation, except for as soon as fucking possible.” She stopped what she was doing and stared at me as if she was waiting for me to agree with her.

“I’m honestly going to do it. He’s just got so much going on at the moment.”

She nodded at me like she didn’t believe me, and I was about to defend my decision again, but the sound of Mum coughing from the front of the café stopped me. I headed out to where she stood hunched over, still coughing. She’d been getting progressively worse all day.

“Go home, Mum,” I suggested as I rubbed her back. “I’m sorry I gave you a cold, but at least I’m all better, so I can look after the café while you rest.”

She coughed one last time before straightening. Nodding, she said, “Thanks, love. Hopefully I’ll be better tomorrow.”

“Don’t come in if you’re not. I’ll take care of everything.”

She took off her apron and hung it up in the kitchen before grabbing her bag and heading out. I gave her a kiss goodbye and told her again not to come in tomorrow if she wasn’t up to it. Knowing my mother, though, she’d be in even if she was sick.

“I like your mum,” Scarlett said after she’d gone.

“She’s a good woman.”

The three of us had gotten on really well and the day had flown by with Scarlett helping us. Mum had mentioned that perhaps she might want a part-time job, but I hadn’t had time to mention it to her yet. Besides, I wanted to spend more time with her before offering her a job – I wasn’t sure whether Scarlett was someone I could spend a lot of time with.

“My mother never gives me the time of day,” she blurted while fidgeting with the tea towel. This was the first time she’d shared something personal with me.

“You’re not close?”

“No. The only person I’m close to in my family is my brother, and most of the time that’s only because I force myself into his life.” As she said this, she pulled her phone out and checked for a text from Scott. She’d been checking it religiously since he called about her brother.

“Still no news?”

She shook her head. “Nothing yet.”

“Do you want to call Scott and ask him? Maybe he got tied up and forgot to call.” I doubted it, but I figured it couldn’t hurt.

She tapped her phone against her leg in a nervous type gesture, and then said, “Yeah, I might give him a call.”

“Okay, I’ll leave you to it.”

I headed to the bathroom and gave her some privacy while she phoned Scott. It had been a busy day and I was exhausted. We only had another hour at work and I was clock watching for that minute we could close up shop and go home.

Tonight I will tell Scott.

Even if he’s busy with club stuff, I’ll make him sit down for a minute so I can tell him.

I took my time in the bathroom in case Scarlett had managed to get hold of Scott and when I finished, I wandered back out to the front of the café looking for her. However, she was nowhere to be found, and instead, Rogue came barrelling in through the front door.

“What the fuck is she doing?” he roared, fury plastered across his face.

I shrunk away from him. I’d never seen him so angry. “What is who doing?”

“Don’t give me that shit. Scarlett. She just screamed out of here in your car.”

Oh shit.

“I was in the bathroom; I didn’t realise she had left.” A shot of nerves spiked through me and I reached into my back pocket for my phone. I dialled Scott twice, but both times the call went straight to his message bank.

Rogue stared at me while I frantically tried to get hold of Scott. After my second attempt, he said, “He’s not answering?”

My heart dropped into my stomach.

This is not good.

I took a step back. “No, but I’ll keep trying.”

Or maybe I’ll try Blade.

As I jabbed at my phone to find Blade’s number, Rogue snatched it out of my hands and stomped on it. His dark eyes met mine and he snarled, “There’s no point trying Scott again ‘cause he’s not likely to answer any time soon.”

My hands madly flailed beside me, searching for a chair to lean on as my legs almost gave way.

No.

Not Scott.

My heart thumped in my chest and I yelled, “What have you done to him?”

This can’t be happening.

He laughed and it was the most sinister laugh I’d ever heard. “Scott Cole’s getting what he’s deserved for a long fucking time, and you, you little bitch, are gonna get what I’ve been wanting to give you since I fucking met you.”

He took a step towards me and I stumbled backwards. My legs were like jelly and didn’t want to move. Fear had taken over my body completely – fear for Scott’s life and fear for what I knew Rogue wanted to do to me.

“No!” I screamed and turned to run into the kitchen. We had a back door and if I could just get to that, I could get outside and run for help.

Even though my legs didn’t want to move, I forced them to. The adrenaline flowing through my body helped me make it to the back door, but the door was locked.

Oh my God.

No. No. No.

My fear roared in my ears and I gritted my teeth against the nausea forcing itself upon me.

Even though I knew Rogue was right behind me, I turned. I had to. The key for the door was in my bag and I had to at least try to get it.

He stood right behind me when I turned, and because I’d anticipated that, I kneed him in the balls and shoved him hard so he stumbled back.

As he screamed obscenities at me, I hurried to my bag, but then I had another idea. I decided to keep heading for the front door instead of fumbling in my bag for the back door key.

“You fucking bitch!” he shouted and I realised he was close again.

Shit.

I was half way to the front door when his hand latched onto my shoulder and he yanked me back. His strength was too great for me to struggle against and I fell back into his grip.

“You’re gonna regret messing with me, Harlow.” His breath crawled across my face as he pressed his mouth close to my cheek.

No asshole, you’re going to regret messing with me.

Thank God Scott taught me some self-defence.

I dropped my weight and then aimed my elbow up and back at his head. At the same time, I stomped on his feet and then rotated out of his hold. I kicked him hard in the balls again and when he doubled over in pain, I took a step back and kicked up under his face as hard as I could which caused him a great deal of pain.

He held his face as he stumbled around yelling at me. When I was satisfied I’d slowed him down enough, I turned to run as fast as I could away from the café to go in search of help.

As I turned, a car’s brakes screeched outside and in the next moment, something smashed through the window.

Flames came alive right in front of me and I screamed out as they licked my arm.

The glass in another one of our windows smashed and an explosion of fire almost deafened me.

And then everything went black.