“Tate is outside and if I were you, I would avoid her at all costs.”
Before I can even ask him why, the door swings open again and Tate walks into the room with purpose, dressed in all black and her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. She looks terrifying. Her gaze lands on me and rage rolls off her, so potent that I consider running out of the back door like a little bitch. I glance down and notice the taser in one hand and her pistol in the other.
Yep.
I definitely should have run.
“Baby, I said no gun,” Kodiak hisses but she walks past him, barely flicking her eyes in his direction as she closes the gap between us and gets right in my face.
“What in the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
My eyes widen and I glance at Kodiak, who closes his eyes and shakes his head, before turning back to her. “Like, right now?”
Wrong move.
She doesn’t even respond, just snarls at me as she presses the taser to my skin before I can dodge out of her way. The muscles in my arm seize up before electricity rolls through my entire body, all of my muscles tightening and pain hitting every nerve ending as I crumple to the floor with a groan.
“What the fuck?” I breathe, trying to figure out what the hell I did to Tate to piss her off. That woman is ten kinds of crazy and I know better than to mess with her. Shaking my head, I open my eyes. Black boots fill my vision and I glance up at her. “Are you wearing steel toe boots?”
She grins. “Test me again and find out.”
“Want to tell me why the hell you’re so pissed?” I ask as my muscles begin to relax and I take a deep breath, trying to will them to release. She lifts one of her feet and presses it against my shoulder as she points the pistol at me.
“Tate,” Kodiak warns, taking a step toward her and she glances back at him, halting him in his tracks.
“Shut up.” She turns her gaze back to me. “Do you know what I did last night, Fuzz?”
I shake my head. “No.”
“I went over to your house and held your wife as she bawled all night long, saying it hurt so bad that she was going to die so let me ask you again, what the hell kind of game are you playing with my friend?”
My heart aches as I imagine Piper sitting on the couch and crying so hard that she can’t even breathe. How many nights did I wake up to that same scene because she had a nightmare about her parents? And now, I’m the one doing it to her.
I’m such a piece of shit.
“I fucked up, okay?” I say, looking up at Tate, as Blaze’s office door opens and he steps out. He takes one look at the three of us and rolls his eyes, mumbling something to himself about “fucking children”.
“Tate, put the gun away.”
She peeks over at him and nods. “Fine, but the taser stays out.”
“Fine,” he agrees with a nod and she turns her attention back to me as she slips the pistol into her ankle holster. She tosses the taser to her other hand and holds it just above my skin. “Continue.”
“I was just going to go home and apologize to her.”
She shakes her head. “She’s not there. Eden came over this morning and took her into work to get her mind off her asshole husband.”
“Okay,” I say with a nod. “I’ll go there, then.”
“And say what to her?”
“That I’m a fucking moron and I know she didn’t cheat on me.”
Her eyes widen. “That’s it?”
“What else would I say?” I ask and she glares at me as she pulls her foot back and presses the taser to my skin again. I yell as the jolt pierces through my body and my muscles lock up.
“How about, ‘I’m a fucking idiot for ever thinking you would do that to me, baby’ or ‘I’m so sorry that I asked you if the baby was mine’. Honestly, just about anything is better than your plan.”
“Okay,” I breathe as my muscles begin to relax again and she presses her foot to my shoulder once more. “I’ll tell her all that. I fucking swear.”
She studies me for a long moment before she stands up and flips the taser off, removing her foot from my shoulder. When it’s safe, I slowly pull myself to my feet and she points a finger in my face. “If this ever happens again, you’ll get a bullet wound to match Lincoln’s.”
“Noted,” I whisper, taking a step back from her. “Can I go find my wife now?”
Arching a brow, she studies me. “Are you going to show up empty-handed?”
Before I can answer her, the front door opens again and we all turn to look as a frail, trembling woman limps into the clubhouse. Her clothes are ripped and torn in pieces, hanging off her thin body and there is dirt smeared all over her skin mixed with what I can only assume is blood. Tear marks carve a path of clean, perfect skin down her cheeks and her hair is a wild mass as she gazes around the room in horror. Blaze steps forward cautiously.
“Are you okay, darlin’?”
She shakes her head and I scoff.
She is obviously not okay but what is she doing here?
“I..” she whispers, looking at all of us like we might jump her and Tate sets her taser down on the table before walking over to her. The woman watches her cross the room, her eyes full of fear and a whimper slips out of her mouth as Tate grabs her hands and leads her to the closest table.
“Sit down, sweetie.”
“Kodiak, go call Rodriguez,” Blaze orders as the girls sink into their seats and Kodiak slips into the war room as he pulls his phone out of his pocket. I turn back to the table as Tate tries to reassure her that she is okay but the woman is terrified, crying and shaking as she looks at all of us with so much fear that I don’t know how she is still standing.
“Can you tell me your name?” Tate asks and the woman nods.
“Veronica Pope.”
Hold up…
I know that name.
All the blood rushes to my ears as I stare at her and it feels like there is an ice block in my chest, spreading through my body with each breath. “You’re Veronica Pope?”
She looks up at me and nods. Blowing out a breath, I look up and my eyes meet Blaze’s across the room. Veronica Pope went missing a while back and Rodriguez asked us to help him with the case right around the time Henn was released from prison but we never found anything. Holy fuck… all this time, she’s been with the guy coming after us? Pinching the bridge of his nose, Blaze releases a sigh and walks forward slowly before sitting across from her.
“Veronica, my name is Blaze and I’m the president of this club. We’ve been investigating your disappearance for a while now with the police so I want you to know that you are safe here, okay?”
She studies him for a second before nodding.
“Can you tell us what happened to you?”
“I… I was kidnapped… I don’t know how long ago… a man… he’s been holding me hostage and today… he opened the front door of the cabin he was keeping me in and he told me to run…I didn’t make it far before he caught me and he made me wear a blindfold as he loaded me into his car. When he dropped me off… we were here and he told me to come inside,” she says, her voice weak and my stomach flips as my heart starts racing.