There’s more pain, and then there’s nothing.
29
Saint
Bash scoops Olivia into his arms, shoving past me. She’s so damn pale that it’s scaring me, but I’m doing what I think is best. I have to. It’s not personal, it’s club business. We still don’t have any answers. Maniac isn’t talking, but Bash thinks he’s getting close. And Jas… Jas hasn’t come out of whatever she was given. She’s awake in her mind, but can’t move. Doc’s calling it a drug-induced version of locked-in syndrome.
King runs his fingers through his hair. He looks as tired as I feel.
“He’s doing the right thing taking her. She’s only getting worse here.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you look like you want to rip someone’s head off?”
“Because I need fucking answers, King. I’m worried out of my mind about Olivia, but I can’t get too fucking involved because we still don’t know what in the fuck happened in that RV.”
“As far as I’m concerned, she’s innocent.”
“We don’t know that,” I bite out. “Tell Razor to do whatever it takes to get Maniac to talk. Cut off his balls one by one if that gets the job done.”
I grab my keys and phone and walk away. I need to get the fuck out of here. Now.
I make it to the end of the fucking driveway when my phone goes off. Pulling over, I take off my helmet and answer it.
“Hello?”
“Saint Massacre?”
“Yeah.”
“I think we should talk. Be at this address in thirty minutes.”
The line goes dead and then a text comes through with an address.
I dial King. “King, I need you for backup.”
He’s at the end of the driveway a moment later.
“You sure this is a good idea, Saint?”
“I’m not sure about anything anymore.”
We arrive to the address thirty minutes later. It’s as if whoever called knew exactly where we were and how long it would take to get there.
King looks up at the building. “This feels like a trap. Why would they want to meet at a coffee shop?”
I get off my bike. “Only one way to find out.”
We enter the coffee shop. There’s two men sitting at the back. One looks up and I curse under my breath.
“What in the fuck is Jasper Brooks doing here?”
King says, “This ought to be interesting.”
We make our way to the table and sit across from the two men.
Jasper says, “Thank you for meeting us.”
The other man says, “My name is Agent Hill. I’m with the FBI.”
“I fucking gathered that.”
“I’ve known Agent Hill for years. He used to be over my old boss before transferring.”
I stare at Jasper. “Were you working with them all along?”
“No. But, I received an interesting call during the rally from Agent Hill asking me to check on someone. By the time I got there, your club was already gone.”
Agent Hill says, “I’ll give you this much, you bikers sure know how to clear out when word spreads that there’s cops or agents in the area.”
King snorts. “It’s a gift.”
“Why did you call Jasper,” I ask. “And who were you checking in on?”
“I think I should start from the beginning.” He slides two files toward King and me. “First, let me start off by saying that this meeting never happened. We never met. And I never showed you this.”
“That seems fucking shady,” King replies.
“Call it what you want. I only say this because when we leave, you have two options.”
“And that is?”
“Look at the files first.”
King flips open the file in front of him. Jas’s face stares back at us in a mugshot. The file is thick, full of arrests starting at the age of fourteen.
“The file you’re looking at is for Nicole Box, aka Nicolette Delight, aka Jasmine or Jas. She started working with us about one year ago.”
King meets my gaze. That’s when she started at the strip club.
“Why is she working with you?”
“Why does any criminal work with us? To save their own ass.” He goes on. “Our initial intention was for her to get information at the strip club. We’re aware of the money laundering that occurs there, plus the obscene number of drugs that pass through the club and into neighboring states. When she was offered a job at your clubhouse, we decided to broaden our operation.”
I open the file in front of me. Olivia’s face smiles back, but not in a mugshot. No, this is a photo taken without her knowledge as she chats with a friend. Her file isn’t as thick as Jas’s and I resist flipping through it to see who she really is.
“We reached out to Olivia Mayhem when we realized that Nicole was getting too comfortable at the club. We knew that Olivia would catch the attention of Zayn ‘Razor’ Smith. Physically, she looks like every serious girlfriend he’s ever had.”
King shoots me a look. Fuck. They know our real names.
Agent Hill goes on, “She agreed to help us. In exchange, we offered to cover her tuition for her final year of college.”
Which would mean the world to her. I haven’t known her that long, but I know that much.
“Why did she agree?” At his look I say, “What were you holding over her head?”
“She was simply repaying a favor.”
“Sounds like bullshit to me.”
King says, “She has a file that is locked. Does it have anything to do with that?”
“It does.” Agent Hill leans forward. “And that file will remain locked. That girl has been through enough. There’s no sense in reopening old wounds.”
“So she and Jas were helping you and… what? One of them started leaking information to another club?”
Agent Hill pulls his phone out, putting it on the table. He hits play.
“I don’t have time for your games, Ms. Mayhem.”
“Agent Hill, Jas and I are in trouble. I figured out who’s been leaking information to the Inferno Bastards and she’s drugged Jas with something. We’re in an RV at this rally.”
“Do you know the location?”
“Somewhere in Mississippi.”
“That’s not helpful. According to the GPS signal, my nearest guy is an hour away.”
“We don’t have an hour.”
“Then I suggest you run, Ms. Mayhem.”
“What about Jas?”
The line ends and Agent Hill puts the phone away.
King grips the table. “She called you for help and you fucking hung up on her?”
Agent Hill says, “She knew the risks when she agreed to help.”
“And now she’s in the fucking hospital,” I spit out. “And Jas might not ever be the same.”
“Nicole will come out of this state soon. We’ve seen other cases like hers and it can take up to fourteen days.” He continues, “As for Ms. Mayhem, I received word that she’s in surgery at this very moment. It seems she has an infection from lack of proper medical care. So, if anything happens to her, that’s on you, not me.”