Final Ride (Lords of Mayhem) (2 page)

“So let me get this right. You planned on offering us up for
protection without asking us.”

“I didn’t plan on shit, Hawk! This was all a working theory.
I told you—”

“How does a
working theory
get you shot at? You made
a misstep somewhere.”

“You think I don’t know that?” she snarled. She speared her
fingers through her curls.

He arched an eyebrow, and she took a shaky breath. “Look,
get Specs and Gadget to look at my phone, computer, and email accounts. If
anyone can find something, they can. Maybe I was bugged. I wouldn’t put it past
them,” she said thinking about the way Evonne’s home had been littered with
cameras and audio listening devices planted by her personal stalker, Levi. He
had started dating her to get revenge for Peter’s death, but he’d formed his
own obsession with Evonne. He’d wined and dined her, worming his way into her
heart, and their inner circle. His chameleon-like abilities were impressive and
terrifying. Hilary didn’t want to think too hard on what would’ve happened if
Evonne hadn’t turned to the Lords for protection. They’d hidden her, giving her
protection around the clock, until the man was brought down in a rain of
bullets.

“Sit down before you fall down. I’m going to see if we can
figure this shit out,” Hawk said turning on his heel.

“Wait, what should I do?”

“Nothing to dig the hole deeper than it already is,” he
replied coolly as he walked out the cabin.

“Asshole,” she mumbled, fighting the urge to throw her shoe
at the door.

* * * * *

Hawk scowled as he strode from the cabin to keep from losing
his cool. He couldn’t stand uptight, snobby bitches like the princess he’d just
left. She let her mouth get ahead of her every time. Most of the guys thought
it was funny. He didn’t. It didn’t surprise him one bit she’d landed knee-deep
in shit. She had a vibe about her that screamed trouble. If ever a woman needed
to be laid across someone’s knee, it was Hilary, or Harpy as he’d come to think
of her. He stopped in front of the cabin that housed Specs and Gadget and
knocked.

“Come on in,” one of them called.

He stepped inside.

“Where’s Hil?” Specs asked. A deep frown wrinkled his brow
and sat at odds with his upbeat attitude.

“She’s back at the cabin. I didn’t kill her if that’s what
you’re worried about,” Hawk said, amused. “You got a crush on her or
something?”

“No.” Specs scowled. “She’s like a sister.”

“Right,” Hawk said skeptically. “Well, your sister’s fucked
up and I think she’s holding back. It ain’t a secret I’m not her favorite
person.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Gadget said thoughtfully.

Hawk shook his head. “She’s been looking into the girls
Levi, Peter, Linden, and Emmit had dated.”

“Jesus, if they know that, it could be more than just her in
trouble,” Specs said.

“The women?” Hawk asked.

“Maybe. At the very least they’d pay them a little visit to
make sure they weren’t growing bold. They’d be fools not to,” Gadget said.

“Shit.” There was nothing Hawk hated worse than a man who
put his hand on a woman. It was the ultimate act of cowardice. “What do you
need to find out what’s going on?”

“I’m working on Hil’s phone right now. My biggest concern
was how they found her at the library. They had to have tracked her some way.
Or been following her,” Specs said.

“I’m working on her computer now. We could use Hilary here
to ask her questions, but that’s about it,” Gadget said.

“I’ll send her over. Just give me a second to enjoy the
quiet.”

Gadget snickered. “She’s not that bad, Hawk.”

He grunted.

“We got good news and bad news,” Gadget said.

“Good first,” Hawk said feeling like he was in rapidly
rising rushing water.

“We know who the victims are, and what might sway them
toward helping us. She was thorough. I’ll give her that,” Gadget said.

“Great, she’s a regular girl scout. What’s the bad news?”
Hawk said. He cracked his knuckles.

“They know she knows, and I give you anything they’re
looking for her,” Gadget said.

“Of course they are,” Hawk said as his fingers itched to
wrap around her neck. She’d kept how much she knew about them to herself.
Did
she talk to them already?

“We got to keep her safe,” Specs said.

Hawk nodded.

“We should see if she brought all her research with her. I’m
going by what I can find, but she’s good at clearing things out,” Gadget said.

“Her phone’s clean. I think they were following her,” Specs
said.

I don’t know if that’s better or worse.
“Now we
really need to know if she visited the victims.”

“I’ll go get her,” Specs said standing.

Hawk closed his eyes. He’d be stuck babysitting her. Pres
was tied up with Boston which left him in charge. This wasn’t a task to pass
off to someone else. He wasn’t used to being challenged. Especially by a woman.
Hilary seemed to live for the conflict.
I could think of more interesting
things to have her mouth do.
The minute she first set foot at a Mayhem
picnic she’d caught his eye. But she had this crazy frosty vibe that killed his
thought of approaching her. It didn’t stop his dick from getting hard though.
He’d rubbed quite a few out to thoughts of the curly-haired beauty. Most of
them involved creative ways to fill those full lips of hers and shut her mouth.

“Tell me what you found before she gets here,” Hawk said,
shoving aside thoughts of her on her knees.

“They were tracking her. Every time she looked at something.
I’m not sure what tipped them off. She went about it the right way with a dummy
email, but they were anticipating it. Given the fact that research is a part of
her profession they’d be imbeciles not to. And that’s the thing with these guys;
they’re stupid smart, and careful,” Specs said.

“But we got them now, right?” Hawk said, ready to end this
mess brought on by self-indulgent assholes who thought the world owed them
something.

“Yeah, it’s a matter of time until we track down their
names, and aliases, and then there’ll be no hiding. Thing is. We can’t alert
them. Hil needs to continue as normal online,” Gadget said.

“All right I’m going to go put my head together with Pres
and come up with a plan of action. I want you two to keep working your magic on
the computer and watch her.”

Convinced the two could handle the live wire, he went to
seek out Tiny.
I love being the bearer of good news.
Truth was, the
higher up on the chain you were the more shit you had to deal with. He strode
out of the room, closed the door behind him and scanned the room. If he had to
interrupt Tiny in his room with Boston, he’d get his ass chewed out. Relief hit
him when he spotted them across the room talking to Moose and Joey. The girls
had gotten close with their impending bundles. He shuddered. Kids scared the
fuck out of him. Needy, crying, whining little things that depended on you
completely to thrive didn’t rate on his to-do list right now. He walked over
and cleared his throat.

“Sorry to interrupt, but I need to borrow you for a minute,
Tiny.”

Tiny stood from his chair. “I’ll be back. You stay here and
relax,” Tiny said, placing a kiss on Boston’s puckered lips before he
straightened. “How’s Hilary doing?”

“She’s good physically, but mentally I think she’s still in
shock. It hasn’t hit her yet.”

“Damn. They’re growing bolder,” Tiny said.

“No, desperate. She’s been working on finding the women they
used as their own personal playthings and getting them to turn on the men.”

“Jesus, did she make contact with these girls?” Tiny asked.

“Not sure yet. She keeps talking about how this was all
theory, but I don’t trust her.”

“Can’t say I disagree. I’ve been waiting for that bomb to
explode. She means well, but she doesn’t understand how this world works. It’s
nothing like it is in those books she writes,” Tiny said.

“That’s for damn sure,” Hawk said.

“You know she’s your responsibility until all this is done,
right?” Tiny said.

“I figured as much,” Hawk said.

“Good luck with that. Most of the guys would wring her neck
before the night was up.” Tiny smiled. The evil grin that always came before Tiny
forced Hawk into situation he wasn’t going to like.

“You’re about to be a dick aren’t you?” Hawk shook his head.

“I already have a front. She’s your house mouse.”

“What?” Hawk’s jaw dropped. Tiny knew he couldn’t stand
Hilary.

“We’re going to make them think they’ve got the best of us.
Call off the lockdown and put our plan into motion.”

“What plan?”

“The one we’ll come up with as soon as we get all the
information we can. We need this shit settled. Things are popping off with
serious threats. These boys are rich men who think they own the world. Pfft, child’s
play for us once they’re smoked out of their hidey holes.”

“Agreed. But shit man. Living with Harpy is going to be a
bitch.”

“We all sacrifice for Mayhem, my friend,” Tiny said. He
patted Hawk on the back, smirking.

“Asshole.”

“Are you going to tell her, or should I?” Tiny said.

“I will. You want to call a meeting?”

“No, no church until we know exactly what we’re dealing
with. Everyone deserves a few days of rest after the move and the cleanup… Damn
still can’t believe Firecracker had it in her to kill a man.”

“Never know what you’re capable of until you’re pushed to
that breaking point,” Hawk said.

“True enough. Let’s go see if the boys have anything for us.”

They opened the door to the room where Hawk had left Hilary.
He watched as she spoke with a voice full of authority and confidence. This
wasn’t the same woman he’d left minutes earlier. She’d shaken off her slump and
gotten back to business. He had to give her props for her swift recovery. Tiny
closed the door behind them, and the three at the table looked up.

“You got something you want to tell me, Hilary?” Tiny said.

“I’m sure Hawk filled you in, but I’ll own up to my
mistakes. I did some digging and went too deep, and they caught me, and now I
have a massive target on my back. I took all the precautions I could. If I had
thought this was unsafe, I never would’ve tried it.”

“At least you’re honest about it. I’m not mad. I’m sure
they’ve been watching all of you girls for a long time. It’s luck that nothing
happened until tonight,” Tiny said. Her shoulders relaxed. Her relief was an
unspoken but palpable thing.
Did she think we’d actually put her out?

“Specs, Gadget, tell me you got something for us to use,”
Tiny said as he walked over to the small station they had set up at the end of
the table.

“Notes and my thoughts on the best way to approach these
girls. I wanted to ask Juliette. She would go a long way toward convincing
them,” said Gadget.

Tiny nodded. “I promise you soon Milo Prescott a.k.a. Emmit
Rice and Quinn Tideswell a.k.a. Linden Lewis won’t be people any of you need to
worry about. This has gone on too long, and the casualties are rising,” Tiny
said.

“W-what are you planning on doing with them? If they all die
it’s going to look damn suspicious,” Hilary said quietly.

Tiny arched an eyebrow. “Normally I wouldn’t answer this
question, but you’ve done too much of the legwork to be shut out. We’re going
to handle this more civilly. That’s all you need to know,” Tiny said. His voice
took on a hard edge Hawk knew all too well. Hilary’s eyes grew round.
Yeah,
he’s not fucking with you. Don’t make him put you in your place.
She gave a
curt nod

“Find everything you can. Tonight we’ll call church and get
this shit going. Hawk, make your explanations.” Tiny turned to Hawk, who shook
his head.

“Hilary, let’s head back to my cabin. You’re going to be
with me for a while,” Hawk said.

“I’m sorry?”

Me too.

“We’ll talk once we get there,” he said not about to be
embarrassed in front of his brothers. She was gearing up for a blowout. He
could see it in the turned down corners of her mouth and the fire in the depths
of her brown eyes. She wrapped her arms around her waist and followed him out
the door. Her delicate jaw tensed and released.
She’s going to let me have
it when we get inside.
Funny that this woman had more balls than any woman
three times her size.

They stepped inside the cabin and he gestured toward the
couch. “You should take a seat.”

“I’ll stand.”

He shrugged. “We’re going to call off lockdown, make them
think they have one over on us, and you’ll be going undercover with me.”

“Undercover as what? No one would buy me as a biker babe,”
she said with a scowl.

“You’d be surprised what good makeover will do. You’re going
to be a house mouse, my house mouse.”

“Your what?”

“House mouse. It’s a woman taken in as part of some sort of
deal. She works off the debt in ways predetermined before she arrived at a
brother’s home.”

“You’re turning me into some sort of prostitute?” Her shrill
voice made him wince.

“Because they do a number of things, from keeping house, to
caring for kids. Not everything is sexual, Hilary. Or is that what you’d like
to do with our agreement?”

“N-no,” she stuttered.

Seeing her frazzled made him smirk. “For me, it’d be a
glorified maid.” He shrugged.

“Listen, Harpy, if I took you, you’d want it, and I’d damn
sure be shutting that mouth of yours. This is to keep you safe. You think I
want you all up in my space? Cause I don’t. Pres laid this down, so we’re
following it to the letter.” Her mouth opened and closed. “What, cat got your
tongue?” he goaded. If he had to be uncomfortable, she could be too.

“You’re such an asshole.”

“Not the first time I’ve heard that and it sure as hell
won’t be the last. Let’s lay down some ground rules. Then maybe we can avoid
killing one another.”