Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Dragon shakes his head. “Stupid would be ignoring the possibility it was something more serious.”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, honey. You’re a pretty, young woman on your own down here. We’ll make sure to keep a close eye on the place,” Blackout says with a smile.
My gut tells me he means that in a friendly way, but I’m not sure I feel safer knowing that the seriously hot, but clearly dangerous, career criminals are watching out for me. “Um, thanks?”
Skyhigh nods. His gorgeous blue eyes scan over the yard. “No problem. If you change your mind about selling, the offer’s open.”
Like I could afford to move even if I wanted to. “Sorry. No plans to move. I have a lot of memories here, you know? You can’t put a price on that.”
His eyes drop to my feet before dragging their way up to my body before settling on my face. “Then I guess we’ll be seeing you around, baby.”
2
SKYHIGH
I rap my knuckles against the door to what used to be where the priests did their priest shit, but is now Hellfire’s office.
“It’s open!”
Inside, music plays softly from a radio in the corner, and rainbow light filters down onto the floor from a stained glass window above. The club president is leaning back in his chair with his heels on the desk, laptop balanced on his thighs.
He looks up when I come in. “What’s up?”
“It’s probably nothing, but I found something over at the old lady’s place that I thought I’d run by you.”
“What the fuck were you doing over there?” He puts the laptop aside and swings his legs to the floor, sitting up. “Is the Skye girl looking to sell? Lasted longer than I woulda thought.”
“Nah, and it doesn’t sound like she’s in a hurry, either. We were doing some work at the place next door—you know, the one Ghost and Savage are looking at for Jessica—when Willow started screaming like a fucking banshee and we found her flat out on the grass thinking she’d dug up a fucking skeleton.”
“Willow, huh? You’re on a first name basis now?” Hellfire grins. “Take it that wasn’t the case? What was it, Halloween decoration?”
“Yeah, we’re best fucking friends,” I say with an eye roll. Not that I would mind finding out if she screams just as loud in the sack. She looked like she had one hell of a body under those overalls. “Oh, it was real enough, just not human. Recognize anything?” I drop my find on Hellfire’s desk with no ceremony. Along with the bones, there was a dog collar embedded in the dirt and one of the tags caught my eye: the military ID of a guy named Lucien Tanner.
As president of the Outlaw Sons, anything and everything that could affect the club is Hellfire’s business. In the years since he took over from General, I’ve watched the weight of that settle on his shoulders, and I can’t fucking say that I envy the guy. Being an officer is about as much as I’m up for, and even that took a lot of thinking before I agreed. After leaving the Army I swore I’d never take responsibility for anyone other than myself again, but some things run deep, and turns out I don’t fucking have it in me to sit back and keep my mouth shut.
He picks up the small metal tag and runs his thumb over the pocked surface. “Tanner? Shit, that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while. Just animal bones?”
“Nope. Could be there’s more, but if I had to bet, I’d say it was just the dog. Deep enough that someone put it there on purpose, but not as deep as I’d dig to hide a body. Chances are the old lady or someone who lived there found a dead dog in their yard and took care of it. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought if I hadn’t seen the ID. Tanner. That was one of ours, right?”
“Yeah.” Hellfire leans back, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck. “Before your time. I was still fresh and Tanner was a couple years in. He was a fucking hothead. He didn’t like when General got serious about the club and started really getting fucking organized. Something went down between him and General after a raid that turned south, but when he vanished most of us just figured he walked. He had a big fucking mutt that followed him everywhere. A cross between a mastiff and, I dunno, a fucking hellhound, from what I could tell. I’ll talk to Bonnie. She might know more. Keep it to yourselves for now, got it? No point getting the boys speculating over nothing.”
I nod. “Yes, sir.”
He snorts. “I’m not your fucking commander.”
I shrug. Guys like us need a hierarchy. Half the brothers ended up here because they couldn’t fit in on the outside. Too big to squeeze themselves into 9-5 lives. Knowing who’s in charge and that they could put a bullet in your fucking head if you step too far out of line helps a certain type of personality relax. Keeps things from turning ugly. Hellfire knows it as well as I do. Better maybe. He’s the one that’s had to pull the trigger.