Holding up his hands, Wheels says, “No, we don’t run drugs. I have a friendly relationship with Cristiano. We’re on speaking terms. The MC has nothing to do with shipments, but, man, I know a lot of fucking people. Every now and again, I give them a name… a name not affiliated with us.”
Leaning forward, I say, “They better not fucking be. Do you remember that shit with the Dogs MC? There’s only a handful of them left. Most are in jail, or strung out, or ─”
“Dead. I know. I’m not an idiot, Kyle. I keep it friendly. Part of my job is to look after you and the club. The club always comes first. And Kyle? Keeping the Rochas happy is keeping the club safe.”
I know he’s right. Wheels has always put the club first, but a secret relationship with a drug cartel is a big fucking deal. I’ve no reason to question his loyalty, but something doesn’t sit right. The Dogs were a smaller MC that self-destructed running drugs for a Mexican cartel.
Wheels points at my plate. “Eat. And while you do, I’ll make some calls.”
He leaves the room, and I stare at Angus.
“Run Wheels down. I want a full sweep…” I pause as I ponder about what I want. “Bank accounts, phone conversations, every-fucking-thing.”
“He’s your Sergeant-at-Arms, don’t you trust him?”
“Fuck, Angus. Lola’s missing. There’s a good possibility she may have a son.” I scrub my hand through my hair. “Do I really know anyone?”
“A son?” Angus begins tapping away on his laptop, nodding his head as he does.
“Yeah, according to her brother, that I didn’t know she had, who’s actually her son.”
Angus again turns his laptop around to me. “Yeah, yeah, makes sense. There’s a gap in her history of six months about fifteen years ago. See here?” He points to the screen. “I thought maybe she took off, but yeah, a kid could be the reason. There are no medical records for a kid or a brother.”
“How do we prove it?”
“DNA. We could run his DNA.”
I scoff. “Yeah, ‘cause we happen to have Lola’s DNA on record.” Angus grins at me, and I raise a brow. “You have Lola’s DNA?”
“Tisk tisk… brother. I have everyone’s DNA.”
Frowning at him, I ask, “Why?”
“You never know when it’ll come in handy, and after Maddock went missing, I wanted to keep track of everyone.”
“You’re a scary little freak. You know that don’t you?”
Angus gives me a chin lift and a thumbs up. “Yep, and aren’t you glad I am?”
Wheels comes back into the room. “Cristiano will have a sit down with us.”
“No, with me alone.”
“Prez, your woman goes missing, and my spidey senses are telling me we’re being targeted, so I’m coming with. And so are four more brothers.”
“Last time I checked, I was in charge. I’m going alone.”
Angus clears his throat, so I quirk an eyebrow at him. “I could plant a bug or two, and I’m not a threat. I’m your little freak brother, remember?”
“Too dangerous.”
Angus shrugs. “It’s my middle name.”
“What, freak?” asks Wheels.
I pin him with a glare and straighten my shoulders. Angus is my brother, and no one but immediate family gets to tease him, not even my MC brothers.
“No, you Neanderthal, dangerous,” replies Angus, taking no offense to Wheels’ comment. “Besides, I’ve been taking some self-defense courses, and I’ve been practicing on the shooting range.” He puts a hand on my shoulder. “I’ll take care of the princess. Sorry, I meant, Prez.”
“Fuck you both. I’m going alone.”
“Come on, Kyle. If the cartel is involved, my bugs could help.”
“They aren’t idiots. They’d sweep the place regularly just like we do.”
Angus nods. “Yeah, but you never know, in the meantime, I might learn something.”
“Self-defense?” I ask.
Angus nods, and I take in his overall appearance. He doesn’t look as thin, he certainly doesn’t have the bulk Sean or I have, but there’s strength to him.
“Kyle, you can’t go in alone,” states Wheels.
“Fine! Angus can come.”
“For fuck’s sake, Kyle. You need to show force. You need your MC with you.”
“He’s right, Kyle. Besides, do you really think Sean is going to stay away even if you order him to?” interjects Angus.
In my heart, I know they’re both right, but I don’t want any more of my people hurt.
“When’s the sit-down?”
“Cristiano said he’d meet at their garage at nine.”
I glance at my watch, it’s four o’clock in the morning. “You couldn’t get him to meet any earlier?”
“No, I tried.” Wheels rubs the back of his neck. “If he has Lola, he’s not going to hurt her. She’d be too valuable.”
“And if he doesn’t? We have no fucking idea who has her. No one’s reached out, Smokey’s dead, and we’re chasing shadows.”
Wheels’ eye bulge. “Smokey’s dead?”
Internally, I’m cursing myself at letting that slip. Smokey’s death needs to be reported to all the senior members of the MC, but I wanted to get a hold on the Lola situation first. Mind you, it’s a total cluster fuck.
Pushing the plate away from myself, I gesture for Wheels to sit. “I’d appreciate it, brother, if you kept that to yourself for the moment.”
“Who did it?” he asks.
“I’m not sure. Lola’s mother was missing. Either she did it or she saw who did it. Either way, we need to find her.”
“Why don’t you want the MC to know?”
“I don’t want anyone else getting hurt, and until we get some answers, I don’t want anyone else going off half-cocked and fucking things up worse than they already are.”
Angus closes the lid on his laptop. “I’m going to get some sleep. Wake me in four hours.”
“You’re sleeping now?”
“What’s Sean always saying? Sleep when you can. So, I’m taking his advice and getting a good solid four hours. You, brother, should do the same.”
Wheels looks from Angus to me. “I’ll keep my mouth shut but not for long, Kyle.”
“You won’t have to. I’ll call church soon enough.”
Without another word to either of them, I make my way to my room. I open the door, hang my cut on the back of it, and turn around. Logan is lying asleep on top of the covers.
“Fuck it,” I mutter to myself.
I’d forgotten he was even here.
Peering down at him, the resemblance to Lola is undeniable. He has her chin and nose. In sleep, Logan appears a lot less angry. For someone so young, he sure harbors a heap of rage. I move toward the bathroom and strip down. The hot water does little to soothe my frayed nerves. In front of my men, I keep it together, but here in the privacy of my own space, I go over the events of the day.
It was strange that Lola was up and dressed to take Annie to church. It’s not something she’d normally do.