Total pages in book: 26
Estimated words: 23332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23332 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
“I at least would have brought it to the table and made a plan. Not gone off half-cocked on my fucking own, hoping for the best,” Hyram bit back at me, anger burning in his eyes.
“He didn’t go off on his own,” Rurik spoke up. “We went together. He had protection the entire time.”
“Alright,” Nolan said, tapping his hand on the table to bring order back to the room. “What’s done is fucking done. The biggest threat has been dealt with. Let’s just figure out what we do from here.”
“Which is…” Malachi drawled, spinning his coffee cup in circles on the table, no doubt bored out of his mind and restless. And he probably had a video game he wanted to get back to. Malachi loved his video games.
“We need to find out who is being voted in as the new president and who’s their VP. We need to set up a meeting, let bygones be bygones, and try to come to some sort of peace treaty. Shaw is growing impatient about this, and he wants the problem solved.” Hyram opened his mouth, but Nolan held up a hand, cutting him off. Hyram smacked it down, making Nolan roll his eyes. “Yes, William acted on his own without the backing of the club, but he has accomplished more than we’ve been able to thus far.”
“I can get in touch with Kaleen,” Malik spoke up.
“Absolutely fucking not,” Rurik snarled at him, so much venom in his voice, even I jerked in surprise. He gripped Malik’s chain and yanked him so close, their noses touched. “You already forgot about the fact that you blew our fucking cover by warning him, Shadow?” The rest of us rarely used each other’s club names unless we happened to be on a run, but Rurik dropped Malik’s all the time.
Malik rolled his eyes, but there was no missing the rapid thump of his pulse at the base of his throat. “Kaleen would never betray me. There’s a bond formed in prison cells that can hardly be broken, Rurik.”
Rurik narrowed his eyes at him, but then, just as quickly, his features smoothed out, and a slow smirk curved his lips. Malik swallowed thickly, his face paling the tiniest bit. “This will hold.” He released Malik and looked at Hyram. “I’ll contact Kaleen and find out what changes have been made on their end, then I’ll try to organize a sit down.”
Hyram pinched the bridge of his nose, then looked at William. However, before he could open his mouth, someone knocked loudly on the chapel doors. Malachi stood and opened it, revealing one of Rurik’s men. Rurik stood, arching a brow at him. “What?”
Wordlessly, he held out a tablet to Rurik. Rurik took it, reading whatever was on it quickly. Gritting his teeth, he looked at Hyram. “We’ve got a problem.”
Hyram’s sigh was full of exhaustion. “When don’t we?”
“What’s happening?” I asked, trying to keep the anxiety curdling my stomach at bay. It didn’t do me any good here. If we had a problem, I needed to keep my head on straight so we could figure it the fuck out and take care of it.
“The prez had a daughter, and she’s just escaped a maximum-security psychiatric hospital.”
Hyram leaned back in his seat and shrugged. “Cops should find her well enough.”
Rurik shook his head and handed the tablet over to Hyram. Hyram began to scroll through it, and tension burned through his shoulders more and more with each word he read. “Nope. The moment she slipped into the woods, she disappeared like a fucking ghost. Dogs can’t track her scent. She managed to scramble even the best trackers. She’s a wild card on the loose.”
“What do we know about her?” I demanded. “Anything useful?”
Rurik shook his head. “Nothing. She’s been unstable for years, apparently. Switches personalities like she changes her panties. We have no idea who we’re dealing with. So, we need to tread carefully and watch our backs.”
“Nine confirmed kills?” Hyram spoke up. “Confirmed?”
“Means there’s possibly more, but they can’t prove it,” Malachi said as if none of us knew what that meant.
“I know what it fucking means,” Hyram snapped at Malachi. “Fucking Christ, this shit just doesn’t let the fuck up.” He pushed back from the table and handed the tablet back to Rurik. “Find me everything you can on her. If the SDMC is loyal to her, we may have an even bigger problem on our hands, especially if she held any love for her old man.”
Everyone filed out of the chapel after Hyram, leaving just me and William at the table. I looked at William. “Don’t tell me you have more wild ass ideas,” I griped.
William smirked. “Nah, not right now, baby.” He leaned in and gripped my chin, tipping my chin up just enough for a kiss. “For now, we lay low and wait to see what happens with the SDMC and this woman. And I take you upstairs and we finally have that long soak, and I can take care of your wrists again.”