Cole, page 21
I returned to the bedroom and went to the built in drawers. At least I knew that Cole’s clothes, which amounted to t-shirts, jeans, a couple pairs of boxers, and socks were clean. I brought a shirt up to my nose and inhaled deeply. It smelled of Cole. His clothes, like his bedding, were infused with his particular manly scent of musk and spice. It was warm and comforting, teasing my memory of our night.
I poked my nose into the bathroom and found only the basic necessities on a shelf beneath the medicine cabinet. Arranging the box at the end of the shelf, I swiped the contents into it. The medicine cabinet had a bottle of aspirin and some rubbing alcohol wipes.
"Don't forget to check the nightstand and under the bed!" Bull yelled from the outer room.
Under the bed? There was no under the bed, but I was glad that he had mentioned the nightstand, which I had overlooked. There was only one. I pulled out the tiny drawer and my eyes immediately landed on the opened box of condoms. I reached for it just as my eyes fell on the trash can at my feet. Taking in the contents, my heart sank, and I slowly lowered myself to the bed, stunned.
A used condom, several, in fact. Cole certainly hadn't missed me while I'd been gone. He'd had a busy week. I felt sick, even as I questioned why. What had I thought? That he was so enamored with me that he'd saved himself? There was nothing between us but sex, at least in his eyes. We'd taken advantage of our insane attraction to each other and that was all.
Trying to convince myself of that wasn't working. Tears gathered in my eyes, and the familiar burn in my nose indicated that I was going to cry. The asshole didn't deserve my tears.
I reached up and pinched the area between my eyes, hoping to control myself. I didn't want to break down in front of Bull when I couldn't give him a legitimate reason for it, but my heart had other plans. The thought of Cole in this room, fucking another woman with the same intensity and passion that he'd shown me, felt like a betrayal that I had no right feeling, even though my heart wanted to rip his out. He wasn't mine. I had to remind myself of that. This was the kind of life he lived.
The only consolation I had was that at least he'd used condoms.
Asshole!
"It's quiet in here. What's going on?"
I glanced up to where Bull had come to a halt just inside the doorway. I quickly wiped my eyes, but not fast enough.
"Shit." He took two giant steps my way and sank down beside me, his gaze dropping to the trash can. "Fuck."
A laugh burst from me. "That one word says it all." It grew quiet between us. I could tell that Bull didn't know what to say.
I rose to my feet, and he did the same.
"You going to be okay?"
"Yep," I lied, forcing a watery smile. I was determined that I would be alright. "Just eager to get away from here."
It was about as far from the truth as I could get.
I was becoming an adept liar.
As we carried the boxes back to Cole’s new room in the clubhouse, I straightened my back and my determination to not forget what my relationship with Cole actually was—a temporary fix to a dangerous situation that would hopefully end within the next few days. Then I could go back to my old life. It was important that I remembered that.
I heard Bull's unintelligible mumbling and looked up to see Tamara and Mitzi posing in the doorway of the clubhouse, watching our approach. There was a knowing smirk on Tamara's face, her eyes all but sparkling with triumphant glee. I braced myself, because I knew that her smirk was meant for me. It didn't take her long to attack.
"I hope you didn't forget the condoms in the nightstand drawer," she smirked. "Cole and I will need them later."
I didn't bother pointing out that she was contradicting her earlier assertion that Cole fucked her without protection.
"Show respect," Bull grumbled. "Cole claimed her."
"So?" Tamara burst out with laughter. "Doesn't make the cow his old lady."
Bull dropped the two boxes in his arms and in a shockingly fast move reached Tamara, wrapped his large hand around her throat, and pushed her against the door. "Respect," he sneered between his teeth, close to her suddenly pale face. "Got me?" With that he jerked away from her and returned to the boxes.
I watched, slightly stunned. Mitzi looked frightened and remained quiet, her eyes glued to Bull as if she were waiting for him to turn on her next. Tamara, on the other hand, got over Bull's attack quickly, and I knew that the eyes she pinned on me held something ominous in them. I didn't trust her. She clearly wanted Cole to herself, and felt that I was in her way. Recalling the condoms that I’d found in the trash, it didn't appear that she had any worries if they'd all been used on her.
I followed Bull inside, not realizing that I'd been holding my breath until then. I'd half-expected the women to jump me on the way by. As warned, I was going to have to watch my back where Tamara was concerned.
I had enough drama in my life.
Chapter 23
Cole
WE MET SHARK AND THREE other Soulless Demons in the parking lot of a hotel at the edge of town in Bisbee that looked as if had been closed down for a long time. What little landscaping was left was either overgrown or completely dead, the windows were boarded up, and the paint was faded and peeling off. Graffiti covered most of the single-floor building, and there were a couple of places where the boards had been removed from the windows and the glass broken.
Shark, BC, Hammer, and a brother that I didn't recognize were already there when we arrived, sitting on their bikes and smoking. Sax and Chewy used the break to light up their own.
"Hey, brother," Shark greeted me around the cigar clamped between his teeth, his brown eyes squinting at the smoke. He wasn't a big man, maybe around five-foot-ten or so, and slender, but he had a big personality, and he was mean as hell. He'd been president of his MC for as long as I'd known him. His gray hair was thinning at the top, which he usually kept covered with a bandana."Made good time."
"Took the highway." I leaned back on my seat, stretching my legs. "Want this shit done and behind us."
"Agreed." His eyes turned hard. "And I want the fucker who offed Cain. Too bad your woman saw it go down, but she's fuckin' lucky she got away."
My woman. Scared the shit out of me that I liked the sound of that.
"Who's the fucking cop we're after?" I wanted to know if it was the same one that I had in mind.
"Name's Rocha, been with Bisbee's finest since straight out of cop school." Shark snorted. "Too fucking stupid to move up in the department, been a cop forever."
Yep, same fucking pig. Every town had crooked cops, and I'd heard Rocha's name thrown around in the MC circle for a long time, just never had any dealings with him. "Less responsibility means more time for extracurricular activities. Maybe he likes staying low key."
"He and his two lackeys deal drugs on the street," Hammer added, braiding his long beard. "A little side business," he smirked.
I cut my eyes back to Shark for confirmation. He nodded. "Yep. Rocha heads up the operation, gets his supply from some seller down in Mexico. Weasel and Joker are his sales associates." A fancy name for dealers.
"So they take all the chances and he gets most of the money."
"Sounds about right." BC flicked his butt away.
"You know we can't make a move on them until we find Raven's mother," I pointed out, reminding them why we were there. "Once we get Rosie we'll help you take care of Rocha and his dealers."
It was hard to read Shark's face while he puffed his cigar and released bursts of thick smoke into the air. The silence that followed my comment told me that he was contemplating my words. His eyes on me were searching, as if he were trying to determine the best way to respond, which made me wonder what the fuck was going through his head. As the president of Soulless Demons he was in charge of this little operation. The problem was that we had different agendas.
He took his cigar out of his mouth. "We'll help you get the woman back, but we'll deal with Rocha on our own. Gonna take him back to the clubhouse so the boys can have a little fun." His grin was humorless. "They'll each want a piece of him for Cain."
I could fucking understand that. Hell, we'd extracted revenge for slain brothers before, too. It wasn't quick and it wasn't pretty, but it sure as fuck was satisfying. "What about the other two?"
"We'll kill them after they take us to the woman," BC said in an uncompromising tone.
It sounded as if they already had a plan. I was cool with that. It would get me back to Raven faster.
"What's the plan?" Sax was apparently on the same track as I was.
"Weasel and Joker don't keep to a regular schedule and they rarely meet their clients at the same location. They get a call, verify the caller is a regular, and set up a meeting."
Chewy scoffed at Hammer's comment. "How the fuck do they get new customers that way?"
"Through the regulars. They let Rocha's guys know they have people interested in their product. They drop a name, Rocha runs a check on them, if they clear, they're in. The regular gets approval to bring them to the next meeting."
"Sounds fucking complicated," I said.
"Yeah, it's not the best process, but Rocha is a paranoid fuck. Does a good business in spite of it." Shark took a last puff off his cigar and tossed it, blowing out a thick plume of smoke.
Sax gave a sound of disbelief. "What's to stop their regular from just showing up with someone else?"
"The assholes stay in hiding until they know for sure the client comes alone." BC moved his head back and forth until he popped the muscles in his neck.
I shook my head with disgust. Pussies. "That doesn't mean shit. They could still be ambushed."
Hammer laughed, the sound loud and deep. "I don't think they've figured that out yet." His tone indicated that he didn't think they were smart enough to think of that.
"Okay, enough," Shark growled, and we all grew quiet. "We found one of their clients and had him set up a meeting."
"Where and what time?" Chewy wanted to know.
Shark looked down at the clock on his handlebar. "Seven. We got half an hour to reach St. Elmo's Bar in the historic district. We'll park our bikes down the street from there, CB will go in alone. He'll signal us when he sees Weasel and Joker."
"What's the plan after we nab them?" Sax made a show of popping his knuckles, letting everyone know that he was more than ready to beat some ass. Rescuing women wasn't new to him. He'd rescued Holly from Crystal's Palace before they'd hooked up a few years before. "Any ideas where they may be keeping Rosie?"
All eyes were on Shark as we waited for his response.
"Have no fucking clue, brothers. There's a lot of abandoned buildings around Bisbee, could be in any one of them."
That could mean days of searching if we were forced to look, and there were no guarantees that we'd find her. Not to mention that once Rocha heard that his dealers were gone, he'd probably head straight to wherever she was being kept and kill her. We couldn't count on the dealers being alone at the meeting; there was a chance that they would have someone in the background, observing, ready to act if shit went south. Someone who wouldn't hesitate to call the cop.
"Could be he's got her in plain sight, locked her up on some trumped up charges," Chewy suggested.
I highly doubted it. "Naw, brother, that would bring attention to Rocha. Besides, she would have notified Raven's sisters of her arrest." I exhaled loudly, antsy for the whole thing to be over. "We're going to have to work fast to find out where Rosie is, before Rocha gets wind that his dealers have been compromised."
"I think we can persuade them to tell us where she is," CB was playing with the tip of a nasty looking knife, an evil grin on his thin lips.
"In answer to your question," Shark said, pinning his eyes on Sax, "we'll remove them from the bar quietly, without incident. Like we're old friends. Earlier this morning we parked a van a couple stores down from St. Elmo's so no one in the bar will see what's going on. Hammer will already be in the driver's seat, Jude and CB will go along for the ride, the rest of us will ride our bikes. We'll meet back here."
"So we're just tagging along for fucking backup?" Chewy sneered, clearly not happy that he didn't have a bigger part in the scheme. "Fucking great." He crossed his arms.
Providing backup was exactly what brothers did. Sometimes that extra presence was all that was needed to keep things running smoothly. I pressed my lips and shook my head, glancing down at the ground. Chewy was a prospect, he should have known better than to question an MC president. I knew that his frustration was directed at the situation, not towards Shark. Shark knew it too, but he had the right to put Chewy in his place.
"I don't give a fuck about the woman, prospect," Shark barked contemptuously. "But I'm willing to help you get her back because your MC helped us find Cain's killer. We don't need help dealing with two drug-peddling pussies, so you're welcome to stay here."
My eyes shot up to Chewy and I gave him a meaningful glare, warning him to watch his mouth. I recognized the instant that he realized his mistake when his expression turned apologetic. He still had a lot to learn as a prospect, and knowing when to bow to his superior was at the top of the fucking list. Shark hadn't made president for nothing.
I had to give him credit for returning his gaze to Shark and meeting him square in the eye. "Sorry for the disrespect, brother. It won't happen again."
Shark glared at him a minute longer, and then the incident were over. "Let's ride!"
The sound of thunder vibrated around us as we revved our bikes and tore out of what had once been a parking lot. Shark took up the lead, his brothers directly behind him. I was in the lead of my brothers, Sax and Chewy flanking me, Colton behind. It took us twenty minutes to reach the historic district, and then we parked our bikes in front of the first building at the beginning of the street. CB was the only one who continued on to St. Elmo's Bar, parking close to the door next to someone's scooter.
Shark moved to my side and gave me a nudge. "There's our druggie." He nodded towards a thin, long-haired man who was hunched over and walking down the sidewalk on the opposite side of the main road. He kept his head down, watching his feet. His appearance revealed that he'd been doing the hard shit for a long time.
"This is going to bring trouble down on his head." I didn't really give a fuck. I was just making conversation.
"Yeah, he was quick to point that out. Paid him enough to leave town and start over somewhere else."
"You really want Cain's killer."
"Didn't pay him to get my hands on Rocha, I did it for the woman." So the words he'd grated out to Chewy earlier had been just that—words. "Fucking hate men who abuse and use women for their own gain."
There was a story there that I would probably never hear. I decided not to remind Shark that the two who were dealing drugs for Rocha had also been involved in killing Cain.
"How do we know Weasel and Joker aren't already inside waiting for him?"
"They could be," Shark responded, turning toward Sax. "Hiding somewhere like scared pussies. They never show themselves until they're sure their client is alone."
"I'm going to head to the van."
We watched Hammer cross the street and head down the sidewalk. The historic district of Bisbee looked like every other small town main street. Shops and restaurants lined both sides of the street, modern business in old buildings that the historic society spent money maintaining. There were upgraded street lights and landscaping. It was an old mining town located in the Mule Mountains, and according to a sign I'd passed on the way into town, it boasted a little over five thousand people. It wasn't the kind of place you'd associate with heavy crime, but drugs were everywhere.
"What was the rift between Rocha and Cain?" I asked Shark, who was in the process of lighting a cigar.
Shark took several deep puffs to make sure his cigar was lit before shaking out the match and dropping it to the ground. "Wasn't just Rocha and Cain, but their families, too. Kind of like the fucking Hatfield's and McCoy's. Went way back, starting with their grandfathers, over some mining rights or some shit like that. Cain never went into the whole story, just bits and pieces when he was fucking drunk. Stupid shit, really. Not worth a man's life."
I hadn’t known about that. Outlawing MC's did a lot of fighting and killing over the boundaries of what they believed was their territory, the property they owned. Even the jobs they took caused war. They fought and killed over what they wanted to keep or steal. Sounded like Cain and Rocha had had a similar situation going on. Sometimes shit can fester and eat away at a man's soul until he's obsessed with doing something about it or going insane. I didn't know of one biker who had a clean slate. Just as I was sure that there were civilians out there with blemished records, too.
"Let's go! Just heard from CB!" Shark was already crossing the street in a kind of running walk.
We followed him, slowing down when we reached the sidewalk so that we didn't bring attention to ourselves, keeping close to the store fronts, even though not much was going on in town. That was good for us. We came up to the van and continued past. Hammer remained planted in the driver's side seat. I heard him start it up just as we opened the door to St. Elmo's Bar and went inside.
My gaze immediately lit on the four men at the end of the bar, CB being one of them. He was the only one who seemed unfazed at the events unfolding. The druggie was shaking and trying to slink away into the background, while Weasel and Joker were stiff and unmoving on their stools in response to whatever CB was saying to them. He had an arm over Weasel's shoulder and was pulling him in as if they were old friends, but Joker had the tip of CB's blade pressed against his crotch.
Shark addressed the nervous druggie first. "Get out of town." The kid took off without hesitation. Shark threw an arm across Joker's shoulder, smirking down into his worried face. "Hey, boys!" His grin was ear-to-ear, but I knew there was nothing genuine about it. "Came to pick you up for the party."
