“What the hell are you thinking? You really want to take on the Executioners?” I leaned back in my seat and examined the spunky woman. For the first time, I had a small flicker of admiration for Angela, but only for a fleeting moment. “Do you really want to take that stand? You slithered your way into the club, and now that you can help the MC, you think you hold some kind of power over them?”
I waited for Angela to make a move. Instead, she sat there, staring at me with that shit-eating grin. I had to go about this a different way.
“Ok, I know what it’s like.”
Angela scoffed.
“You don’t have to believe me, but I do. It’s just a different world for me, but the same scenario. Men always running the show, keeping you down, leaving you with no choice but to fight and claw your way up the ladder. I get it, really. Same shit, different day.”
She flicked her red hair over her shoulder. “You don’t know shit about me.”
“You’re right, I don’t. But one thing I do know is the MC. I know things that would blow your fucking mind. This is nothing to them. They’ll find another way to keep Ronin out of prison. Don’t ever fool yourself by thinking you’re important to them. You’re simply collateral damage.”
I saw her wheels turning, contemplating my words. I had her on the hook.
“Well, I can’t sit around wasting time. We’re done. Can you send Bonnie in on your way out?” I shuffled papers and made generic notes. I wasn’t surprised that she didn’t move. All I needed to do was set the line. “Oh, and if I were you, I’d hitch a ride back to town before the boys get back. Better yet, a different town. For your safety, of course.”
Angela snuffed out her cigarette. “Fine, what do you wanna know?”
I stifled a grin. “I need to know about the night Numar was killed. Where you were, who you were with, times. That kind of stuff.”
“Oh, you want details. What are you, some kind of freak?”
My eyes glazed over. My chest heaved with a jagged breath. I fought the urge to snatch the stupid bitch up by her hair and boot her ass down the dirt road.
Ronin
.
“Just the facts.”
“Fine, I don’t remember why we were partying, not that we needed to have an excuse or anything. Anyway, I was there with Ronin. He doesn’t like being alone when his head is all fucked up.”
“So he called you to come over?”
She shook her red locks. “No, I was there with Jessa. She had something I needed to pick up.” Angela squirmed in her seat before continuing. “I was there when the boys got back. They were hyper and ready to throw down. We drank, played pool, and danced.”
“How long were you there?”
“I don’t know. Got there sometime that afternoon, maybe four or five o’clock, before Ronin got back from his drop.”
I tried to hide my irritation that she was making pulling information like pulling fucking teeth. “Until?”
Angela curled her lips into a sly grin. “Honey, until I couldn’t walk, sometime the next morning. That man is gifted.”
Bitch
.
“Anything else?”
I shoved a slip of paper across the table. “Make a list of names, everyone you can remember being there that night. And you’re positive that Ronin never left that night, correct?”
“Trust me, that man wasn’t trying to go anywhere. He was too occupied to care about anything else.” Angela finished scribbling names on the paper before she up and left without another word.
There it was. Ronin’s alibi. It should help if that crazy ass slut can hold it together long enough to make it to court.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
(Ronin)
It was a long ride back to the cabin. Clint and I had made a run to pick up some cash while Stoner and Herc sent the prospects on a weapons haul. I was confused and a little more than pissed when Jesse partnered up with Zombie to track down intel on the Pistol King’s, but I didn’t dare tell him that. Don’t question the prez.
“Shit man, I can’t believe we beat everyone back.” Clint lit up as soon as he parked his sled. He seemed to be hitting the smoke more than usual lately.
“Yeah, that is a little odd.” I observed the grounds. Everything seemed to be in order. The Sacramento boys were standing watch and the women were all accounted for. Nothing out of the usual.
“Hey Ronin, can we talk?”
Clint made himself scarce when Jolene came out the front door. She was fucking gorgeous. Even the pent up expression on her face got to me.
“Sure,” I responded and got ready to sit on the steps, leaving room for her to join me.
“Not here.”
I searched her eyes. Something was wrong. “Wanna take a ride?”
That was the only invitation that she needed. She snapped on a helmet and I quickly cranked up my chopper, trying not to get a hard on as she wound her body around mine. I threw my hand up at Clint. He nodded in return.
I headed out down a deserted road leading further out in the middle of nowhere, pulling her arm tighter around my waist and holding onto her smooth hand. Once I found a secluded clearing, I pulled off to the side and parked, helping Jo off the back of the bike.
“What’s going on?” I watched her pace the small grassy patch.
“I don’t really know.” She walked around, aimlessly. With her head down, she appeared to be thinking to herself, struggling for the words. “Ronin…”
“Dammit woman, spit it out.”
Jolene inhaled, holding the long breath in her lungs before exhaling. “I’ve been conducting interviews this morning. You know, with the girls who were at the clubhouse the night Numar died.”
“Don’t tell me that Angela’s giving you shit. I can set her ass straight real quick.”
“Yeah, well, I handled that bitch myself. She wasn’t a tough nut to crack. This is about Patsy.”
My brow creased. Confused, I tried to search her face. “What the hell does Patsy have to do with anything?”
“It was her interview.” Jolene rubbed her hands along her jeans. Wetting her lips, she gazed up at me. I couldn’t read the expression in her eyes. Pain? Fear? No, anger. “She was really on edge, and before you say anything, I know that she’s always like that. But this is different. At first, she was more than cooperative. However, as I asked questions, she started to withdrawal. She said Zombie wouldn’t like her answering questions without him. I asked if she knew who might have had access to your room and who she thought might have taken the gun.”
“Well?” The conversation was getting under my thick skin real quick.
“Her only response was that it definitely wasn’t Zombie. So, I asked if she thought someone could have been working for him. I don’t know what made me go down that path. It sure as shit caught her off guard too. She shot up out of her seat, stating that it wasn’t her who went into your closet, adding no matter what anyone said. Is it just me or is that weird? I don’t know the girl, am I making too much out of it?”
“Shit.” My head was fucking a fucking hamster wheel. Everything lined up with what I had been suspecting for a while now. “Zombie was already on my radar, but Patsy? I had no idea. I guess it makes sense. He would have used her to do the dirty work.”
“Oh my god. Do you know what this means?” Her wild eyes were round and haunted.
Dazed, I nodded. “Yeah, it means my own fucking brother set me up for murder.”
I leaned against a tree. I couldn’t gather my thoughts, much less my next course of action. It shouldn’t have come as such a shock, but my own club brother. Jolene stepped closer, placing her hand to my chest, sending an electrical current through my body.
“I’m so sorry, Ronin. I know its Zombie, but it doesn’t take the sting out any less. Regardless, this is good news.”
“Yeah, I suppose.” I placed my hand over hers. Peering down into her eyes. I wanted to get lost forever in her and only her. The pain in my chest had me reeling. “I need you.”
“And I’m here for you.”
I couldn’t help myself. Her words sent me over the edge. I grabbed her by the waist, picking her up and exchanging spots. I backed her up to the tree, my mouth came crashing down on hers. She tasted like what I thought heaven might taste like. Sweet and intoxicating.
She raked her hands through my hair and along my back. Ripping open my shirt, Jolene dug her nails into my flesh as she trailed kisses down my abdomen. She unbuttoned my jeans, tugging on them to fall past my hips.
She gripped my cock and teased the tip with her hot tongue, tormenting me as she licked away the liquid before taking all of me into her mouth.
“Fuck.” I watched her head bob up and down, slow and firm. Her free hand massaged my sac. Jolene pumped my shaft in rhythm with her mouth until my balls tightened. My insides hummed as an orgasm flooded my body.
I couldn’t wait any longer. I pulled out a condom in record time while Jolene stripped away her jeans. Backing her up to the tree, I grabbed her by her ass and pulled her up into my arms. I entered her, filling her delicate opening with my hard, throbbing dick.
This time was harder, carnal. I pounded into her, leaving her begging me to go harder. She was perfection.
We picked up our clothes and started dressing. The familiar tattoo on her lower abdomen matched his own, and X in honor of the baby they had lost. Baby X. My son. I bent down and kissed the small tattoo. Jolene cradled my head between her hands. I struggled to fight back tears.
I had to push it all away. There was work to be done.
“What do we do now?” She asked.
“We go to Jesse. You ready for that?”
Jolene twisted her lips to the side. “Ready as I’ll ever be.”
We rode back to the cabin. My body was still buzzing when I saw everyone scatter and straddle their sleds. Jesse and the boys bolted out the front door. I pulled up and allowed Jo to hop off the back.
“What’s going down?”
“The Pistol Kings. Something about an explosion. Let’s ride!”
I fell into line and followed the pack. The sight of Jolene standing there as she watched me ride away, knowing what we share, left my gut twisted. We were the only two people who knew the truth. The only two people who mattered. The only two people…
CHAPTER NINETEEN
(Jolene)
My tender back stung from the friction of the tree trunk in the woods. It was the most exhilarating, addicting pain ever. Ronin and I never did have any trouble in the fucking department. It was the making love department that I wasn’t so sure about.
Now, just as we were ready to unravel the mystery surrounding Numar’s death, another catastrophe calls for attention. This world was nothing but one disaster after another. As I watched Ronin disappear down the dirt driveway, I knew I couldn’t just stand around and do nothing. Whatever the MC had going on didn’t have to stop her from getting Patsy to confess, in turn setting Ronin free.
This wasn’t going to be easy, and I certainly wouldn’t be able to accomplish the impossible on my own.
“Hey Jessa, can you come and help me find something? In the bedroom?”
She glanced up from the magazine that she had been reading. “Yeah, what are we looking for?”
When I didn’t reply, she looked over at me. My eyes pleaded with her. She crinkled her nose and mouthed, “What?”
I waved her down the hallway and into the bedroom.
“Damn, can’t you take a hint?”
She planted her hands on her frail hips. “What the hell are you talking about? Shit, why didn’t you just say you wanted to talk?”
“Whatever, never mind all that. I need your help.” I paced the tiny room. I couldn’t form the words in my head. The time in the woods with Ronin was like a blur.
“Fine. Get to it.”
I took in a few quick breaths. “What do you think about Patsy?”
Jessa raised an eyebrow. “Why? I guess she’s ok. She’s quiet and beat down, but you already know that.”
“What does she think about you?”
She shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”
“Dammit, seriously.”
“Fine, shit. I guess we’re ok. She’s been around the club for a while. She’s cool. We haven’t had any issues to speak of, and for me that’s rare. What the fuck is going on?”
“I finished interviewing the women in the house. Some stuff with Patsy didn’t sit right. I think she was trying to cover for Zombie.”
“What do you mean, cover for him?”
I plopped down on the bed and looked at my sister. “I think he was the one who killed Numar and she was the one to help him get Ronin’s gun out of the clubhouse.”
“Jo, that’s one hell of an accusation.” Jessa arched one thin eyebrow.
“Don’t you think I know that? I can feel it in my gut. This is it, and now I have to figure out to get her to confess to the police to get Ronin off for Numar’s murder.”
She plopped down right beside me. “And that’s where I come in, I suppose.”
“Yeah, I thought the two of us together might be able to talk her into going back to Jericho, especially while Zombie’s gone. But I don’t know what to do about Herc, or how we would even get there.”
“You leave that shit to me. You find Patsy and get her alone. Give her the best you’ve got. Ready?”