Chapter 39: The Devil’s Reward: Chapter 38

Church is all but silent as we wait for Sniper to call it to order. Everyone’s faces are hard. Yet, I know one of them is a traitor. All they’re doing is putting on an act, I just need to find the crack in the facade and I’ll know who my mole is. Until then, I need to get together with Viper. Look at all the facts and start ruling out people.

Sniper walks in and takes Bullet’s chair, though he doesn’t look happy about it. He bangs the gavel. “I’m not happy to be in this seat,” he tells us all bluntly. “Far as I’m fucking concerned, I shouldn’t ever be in this seat, but I am, and we’re going to avenge our President, his Old Lady, and the other Old Ladies lying in those beds.” There are sounds of agreement from everyone. “Kaleb is also out of commission, but the doctors say he should be just fine. If he does well tonight, he can be released tomorrow.”

“Kid did a good fucking job trying to get away,” I say when he goes quiet.

“Kid needs to be patched in already,” Viper agrees. “He’s been around the longest, and he’s proven himself time and time again.”

“I agree, but we’ll need to wait until our President is back at the table before we vote,” Sniper cautions. “Still, I’ll make sure he knows he has our appreciation. Kid is going to make a good brother.” He looks around the room and leans on the table. “Intel from the SUV says it belongs to a dummy corporation that we’ve traced back to Dmitri’s operation.”

“Fucking bastard,” Hammer seethes. “I say we blow him to kingdom come.”

“Fuck yes,” Dagger agrees with a sharp nod.

“Got my vote,” Titan says.

“Me too,” Twigs adds, his face somber. A rare instance for him. Others all chime in their agreement except for Viper, Sniper, and I.

Sniper holds up his hand to silence everyone. “We have no idea where he is, and even if we did, we don’t want to get caught with a fucking bomb. His time is coming, but we need to be smart about it.”

“Ever since this happened I’ve been trying to trace him,” Cryos says grimly, opening his laptop and turning on the projector. A map of the town and the surrounding area is displayed, with a couple location markers. “The red is all the places that we know he’s been.” I immediately recognize the garage, the warehouse, and the neighborhood where King and Sage first saw him. No clear patterns emerge. Then a thought occurs to me.

“The old asylum isn’t marked off,” I tell Cryos.

He frowns at me. “Why would it need to be?” he asks in confusion.

“Because that’s where they took Talon the last time we knew they were in town,” I explain. “They used it as their torture chamber.”

“You think they’re still using it?” Bowie asks, leaning forward as he stares at the screen.

“Possible,” I say with a shrug. “Would be kind of stupid of them, since we know about it.”

“Or smart,” Viper interjects. “They figure we forgot about it, so they wait until the smoke clears, a new bad guy comes into town, and they get back to work.”

Sniper nods. “Bowie, you and Frost go check it out,” he orders. “You find anything, report back, don’t engage.”

“Done,” Bowie says immediately, green eyes hard.

“We still need to check out the old abandoned farmhouse,” Hammer reminds everyone. I don’t react, because as far as anyone is concerned, Viper and I never left the clubhouse the other night.

“You remember where it is?” Sniper asks him. Hammer nods. “Take Dagger and Medic with you. You find anything, let me know. Again, do not engage. We need to be smart about this because we can’t risk them getting away.”

“I’m good,” Hammer says gruffly, but it’s obvious he would like nothing more than to do as much e as he can.

Sniper looks around the room. “Any other ideas?”

“If we’re checking out old spots, then maybe we should check out the warehouse area too,” Timber suggests. “I know they burned it to the ground, but we never searched any of the surrounding areas, and we could be missing something. They might have another spot close.”

“Do it,” Sniper agrees. “I’ll go with you. Everyone else, get out on the street and listen for chatter. Anyone bragging or any of Dmitri’s men around.”

“I’ll keep working on trying to find Dmitri,” Cryos adds. “Let you know if I find anything.”

Sniper nods. “Alright, meeting adjourned. Let’s get these bastards.” He bangs the gavel and everyone starts to disperse. Those with assignments head out, Sniper tells Timber to hold up until he can answer a few things, and I head up to my room to take a shower.

When I emerge, I’m not surprised to find Viper laying on my bed, eyes on his phone. “Make yourself at home,” I drawl sarcastically as I drop my towel and grab some fresh clothes.

Viper ignores my words, and my bare ass, and asks, “So what happened with Quinn?”

I pause while pulling on my jeans, but quickly continue and reply, “Told her some shit, and she let me stay the night.”

“Hmm,” Viper says, looking over at me, eyes assessing. “She the one, brother?”

His question might sound simple, but the weight behind it is evident. His blue eyes on mine are piercing, and he’ll know if I lie. I nod. “She’s gonna be my Old Lady, Viper, and that little girl is going to be mine. She told me the shit she’s gone through, and Quinn deserves so much better than where she’s at now.” I briefly explain what she told me about Bobby.

“Fucking bastard,” Viper growls in response when I finish. “Doing that shit to your wife and kid? Son of a bitch is lucky he’s dead.”

I nod. “I said the same thing. He was a traitor, and then he hid his little black book in his unborn daughter’s crib? Who the fuck does that?”

“I don’t like to call people like that men. More like cockroaches. You think Quinn is going to be okay being associated with us?”

I nod. “I do. She’s sweet, and I’d like to think that she won’t go along with Rose and the girls’ plots, but I know that’s probably a pipe dream.”

Viper chuckles. “Probably. I’m happy for you, man. You deserve happiness, and once we handle this mole business, we’ll all be even happier.” I hope he’s right. But his next questions make me pause. “Did you tell her about Sam?”

“A bit,” I reply curtly as I put on my boots and grab my cut, sliding it over my shoulders.

Viper arches a brow. “So she doesn’t know how much the two of them look alike?”

“What’s the point of telling her?” I demand, irritated. “They’re not the same person. In appearance, yes, she’s practically the spitting image, but in everything else, she couldn’t be further from her. Sam was brash, a ballbuster, and never made me feel half the things that Quinn does. I was in lust with Sam, but Quinn, she’s everything.”

“And when she finally sees a picture of Sam?” he asks quietly. “What are you going to say then?”

I shrug. “I’ll cross that bridge when we get there. I don’t want her because of Sam, Viper. I want her because she is the light in the darkness that I need to pull me out when I start to slide back. Yesterday, I went to her because I needed her. Although, I didn’t know it at the time. I tried to get her to kick me out, but she didn’t let me. She let me unload, let me tell her a bit of the night I lost them all, and then she helped me put myself back together again.”

Viper sighs. “Alright, brother, but I’m just saying you should probably tell her the truth before she finds out herself, and it hurts her.”

“I’ll deal with it after we get the mole and handle Dmitri,” I promise him so he’s appeased enough to let it go. Viper nods and we head out. I lock the door behind me, pocketing the key, and make a mental note to change the lock soon. I don’t need our mole coming back into my room again.

When we walk downstairs, I’m not surprised to find it’s mostly empty, but I stop in surprise when I see Quinn talking to Sniper, something in her hands, with Macy standing by her side and staring up at Sniper with wide eyes. “Quinn, Macy,” I say, hurrying across the room towards them. “Everything alright?”

“Shadow!” Macy cheers, running towards me and jumping to wrap her hands around my legs, grinning widely at me. I reach down and heft her up into my arms, settling her on my hip. She wraps her arm around my neck to support herself. Her trust humbles me.

Quinn gives me a shy smile. “Sorry for stopping by unannounced,” she says when I reach her. “I just wanted to drop off something for everyone to eat. I know that you’ve got other things on your mind, and food is probably the least of them.”

My chest warms. Uncaring of our audience I lean down to press a kiss to her mouth. “Thanks,” I murmur when I pull away.

“You’re welcome,” she says, blushing furiously.

Sniper smirks as he takes the tray from her hands. “I’ll take this and hide it before the horde gets back and devours it before the rest of us get a chance to taste it,” he tells her. “Thanks, Quinn. It was nice to meet you.” He looks at Macy with a warm smile. “You too, Ms. Macy.”

Macy giggles. “You’re handsome,” she flirts at him, batting her eyes at him. Viper laughs behind me, drawing her attention, even as Sniper’s smile pulls into a full-fledged grin. Viper grins at the little girl. “Wow, you’re big!” Macy gasps, looking up at him with wide eyes. “You’re as tall as a building.”

Viper laughs, obviously charmed. “Not quite, but I am tall. Nice to meet you, pipsqueak. I’m Viper.”

Macy giggles at the nickname, and bats her eyelashes at him too. “I’m Macy. Shadow’s going to be my new Dad. Mom said that we had to come and bring food because your friends got some owies.”

Viper’s grin is wide as I look over at Quinn who is leaning on the bar, head in her hands, her entire upper body red from embarrassment. She refuses to look at me, but a smile pulls at my mouth. I look at Macy, who is grinning and looking mighty pleased with herself. “I think we can agree that you are going to be trouble when you get older, sugar,” I tell her as I set her down on her feet.

She shrugs, uncaring. “Mom always says I’m trouble, but Grandpa says that means that I’m adventus. Keeps people on their toes.”

“Adventurous,” I correct gently. “And you keep people on their toes alright.” I look at Viper. “It’s going to be interesting when she meets Archer.”

“Who’s Archer?” Macy questions, looking around curiously.

“He’s my son,” Viper explains. “He’s not here right now though.” Macy loses her smile and pouts in disappointment. “You’ll meet him soon, promise.”

“Okay,” she says easily, quickly smiling again.

Quinn sighs and lifts her head. “Hi, Viper,” she tells him with a half wave of her hand, one I quickly take to pull her into me.

“Quinn,” he says with a smile. “I didn’t know you were hiding this little gem from me. But I’ll forgive you if you tell me what is in that pan,” he adds with a wink.

“It is Mom’s famous Mac and Cheese casserole,” Macy butts in before Quinn can answer. “It’s the bestest ever. I could eat all of it myself.” She glances around like she’s worried someone will overhear, and then loudly whispers, “She made a smaller one just for us though. You guys can’t have that one.”

I chuckle and murmur in Quinn’s ear, “I hope I’m invited to that one.”

Quinn smiles up at me. “Depends on if you’re nice to me,” she murmurs back. “And make it worth my while.” She immediately blushes, and a wicked smile pulls at my lips. It seems my sweet, shy Quinn, has a bit of a dirty mind after all.

“Oh I’ll make it worth your while, gorgeous,” I whisper in her ear, my teeth lightly nipping at the lobe. “I’ll lick that pussy for hours until you’re begging me to fill you with something else. Something much harder and bigger than my tongue and fingers.” She shivers and swallows hard.

“Behave,” she hisses back, but the desire in her eyes tells me she’s intrigued. After last night, maybe we’ll get there faster.

I lift my head just in time to see Sniper come back out of the kitchen. “It was tempting, but I didn’t try any,” he tells Quinn with a smile.

Quinn smiles back. “I wouldn’t tell,” she promises. She looks back up at me. “I just wanted to stop by with that and make sure you were okay. I know you’re probably heading back to the hospital, so I don’t want to take up more of your time.”

“Gorgeous, you can take up as much of my time as you like,” I assure her. “But yes, we are going back to the hospital soon. They said it will probably be a couple of days before Bullet, Rose, or Sage wake up, so it’s no rush.”

“Actually,” Sniper says suddenly, making me look over at him in question to see him looking at his phone, “it looks like we need to head over now. Bullet’s awake.”

Instantly, I’m on high alert. “Rose and Sage?” I ask.

“Not yet,” Sniper says with a shake of his head.

“We’ll get out of your way,” Quinn says quickly.

“I’m sorry,” I say apologetically.

She holds up her hand. “Shadow, never apologize for being concerned about your family. Let me know how he is, though, will you? I really enjoyed meeting him. When they’re all up for visitors, I’ll come up, okay?”

“You’re too good for me,” I murmur, kissing her again, enjoying the taste of her long enough that I hear Macy gagging behind me. I pull away and look over at the little girl, who is dramatically holding her stomach and mock retching. Viper is laughing, clearly delighted. I let go of Quinn and grab Macy, who lets out a screech of surprise, and then a chorus of laughter as I hang her upside down and tickle her sides. “Maybe you need some cooties too, sugar,” I tell her loudly over her high-pitched squeals of joy.

“No!” she begs. “No cooties. Boys are gross!”

“That’s right,” I agree, flipping her right side up and looking into her red face, some of her hair standing on end where it’s slipped out of her braid. “You remember that until you’re fifty.” Then I set her down and rest my hand on her head to keep her from falling over until she gets her feet under her.

Quinn is smiling at me. “We need to go, Macy, so say goodbye to everyone.”

“Can we come back?” Macy asks, looking up at me.

“You’re always welcome here,” I tell her, looking over at Quinn so she knows that means her too.

“We’ll make sure to have you over when Archer is here,” Viper tells her, ruffling her hair and making her laugh again.

Quinn takes Macy’s hand. “Bye,” she says softly to me.

“We’ll walk you out.” We follow them out, and I watch as she gets Macy into her car seat before she rounds the car and climbs into the driver’s seat. We don’t move until they’re down the driveway and pulling out the gate.

“That is one sweet woman,” Sniper remarks, making me glare at him. He smirks at me. “Too bad she’s too young for me, I might give you a run for your money, brother. The little girl is going to have you run ragged by the time she’s graduating high school.”

“I can’t be the only one who can’t wait to see what trouble that one gets into with the women,” Viper says with a wicked grin.

“Lord help me,” I gripe. “If I’m lucky I can keep her out of jail until then.”

Both men laugh. “I think you better be collecting more bail money, brother,” Sniper suggests as we head to our bikes. “And probably setting up a separate account for little Ms. Cute.”

I sigh, because I know he’s right.

We head for the hospital and when we reach their floor, I see we’re the only ones there. “You didn’t let anyone else know?” I ask Sniper quietly as we head for Bullet’s room.

“I want to talk to him without worrying about our mole showing up,” Sniper answers. “If Bullet’s up to talking, he’s going to have questions.”

“Good call,” I say, following him and Viper into the room. I nod at Hulk and Crypt who are both standing guard outside the doors. Both nod back, then resume their posts. I don’t miss the way the nurses either give them a wide berth, or watch them with clear interest. Neither man gives any kind of reaction.

In the room, Rose and Sage are both still unconscious, but Bullet is awake, looking a little worse for wear, but alert enough that I feel the punch of his gaze when it lands on us. His breathing tube has been removed, replaced by an oxygen line under his nose. “Good to see you awake and kicking, Prez,” Viper tells him as we all stop at the end of the bed. Stone, King, and Torque are at his bedside, looking relieved.

“Gonna take more than that to kill me,” he rasps out. He looks at me. “Thank you,” he says softly. “King told me you got my Rose out. I owe you everything for that, brother.”

I shake my head. “You owe me nothing,” I say firmly. “You know I’d give my life for any woman in this club, especially Rose.”

He gives a slight incline of his head. “You find the bastard yet?” he asks Sniper.

“Not yet,” Sniper answers grimly. “But we’re working on it. Covering a few different angles.”

He glances around before he asks in a low rasp, “Was it Dmitri or the mole?”

None of us answer for a moment, until finally I say, “After the collision, the SUV was dumped and set on fire. Crypt was able to follow some tracks from there, and they led right back to the clubhouse.”

“So the mole,” Bullet says, holding my gaze. “I don’t care that he tried to kill me,” he says, anger making his voice shake. “I care that he almost killed my woman, and my daughters-in-law. That will never stand. You don’t touch the women, that’s the rule. This mole needs to be found, and when I get out of here, I’m going to kill them with my bare hands.”

His heart monitor speeds up and King puts a steadying hand on his arm, causing Bullet to calm, and the beeping returns to its normal rhythm. “I know you like the pretty nurses, old man, but we don’t want them in here yet,” King says with a small, teasing smile.

Bullet sighs. “Fucking things. I want to get the hell out of here.”

“Won’t happen for a few days at least,” Stone says with a shake of his head. “No way they’re going to let you get up and leave now.”

“Bloody doctors.” He looks to his left at Rose, and his face hardens. “When is she going to wake up?” Then he swallows hard. “If she does.”

“The doctors say that everything looks good, so it’s just a waiting game,” Torque assures him quietly. “Mom’s not going to give up, Dad. You know she’s too damn stubborn to let this bastard get the best of her. And when she wakes up, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

“She’ll probably rally the rest of the women and lead the charge to find our mole if we haven’t by then,” Viper chuckles.

“You’re probably right,” Bullet agrees tiredly. “I didn’t see anyone in that SUV, the windows were too tinted.”

“We’re on it,” Sniper assures him. “You need to rest, and I’ll keep you up to date.”

“Good,” Bullet says. He looks at Viper and I. “You two get your asses out there and get to work. If anyone can find this bastard, it’s you two.”