Snapped: Satan's Fools MC (10 page)

The three men looked at each other and Raven pushed Morgana off of his lap. He picked her up carefully in his arms and she didn’t resist. “Morgana and I are going to have a talk and a nap. Keep Lana away from here, and I’m sure the two of you can fix steaks and salads.” He carried her to their bedroom with Morgana’s arms wrapped around his neck.

Gently, he removed her sandals and clothes. He pulled one of his oldest, softest t-shirts over her head before tucking her in the bed. He got right into bed next to her. “It will be fine. I’m here and I’ll be taking care of you. Your sister will stress you out, which is about the only thing she’s good for in my opinion. Morgana, we will make this work. Give me a chance. We’ll move to the farm because we can’t have our baby at risk here. Things might be a bit tight at times, but we’ve dealt with that before, right?”

She was looking at him with a wistful smile. “You really want to do this with me, Raven? I get to have some pets too?”

“Yeah, I really, really wanna do this with you. We’ll start out with a cat.”

He kissed her softly on the lips and watched her eyes close. Carefully he put his hand on her belly and felt their baby move. His hand rubbed circles over her stomach and he felt better than he had in many years. His eyes started to close and he kept his hand where it was.

This was the way it was supposed to be. His gut told him so, and it was never wrong.

Morgana woke up alone. She was wearing one of Raven’s shirts, so it hadn’t been a dream. She frowned and wondered if she could trust him again. Breaking trust was a major issue with her, and Raven was king of betrayals in her mind.

She heard Raven and her brothers talking, sometimes punctuated by a loud curse. She was still tired, but she got up and pulled on a pair of leggings anyway and padded out to the kitchen.

Raven saw her come out of the bedroom and she looked so cute with her short hair all messy and looking so sleepy. He felt his heart sink at the thought that he had blown any chances of a happy life with her.

“Morgana, are you ready to eat? True has the grill going and we were waiting for you to wake up.” He smiled his pirate-like grin at her and stood up.

“I’m starving. I’ll grab something while the steaks cook. I got enough for everyone, I hope?”

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and looked at the three men before her. True with his steel grey eyes, and always her favorite big brother. Whistler, with his lighter eyes, who she could usually wrap around her pinkie.

Then she looked hard at Raven. Her ol’ man, her one-time true love and best friend. She stared the longest at him, noticing that he had shaved.

He looked back at her with hope in his eyes.

Was it worth it to stay here and try again? She hoped so. She felt a tear slip down her cheek and he was beside her instantly.

“Let’s get you something to eat. I made a salad and put cranberries and goat cheese in it like you always do.” Raven guided her into the kitchen and sat her down at the breakfast bar. “Mor, I swear to you I’m different and I’ll make some changes. Anything to make you happy.” He ran his hands through her hair and she felt a spark go through her.

Raven …
Her Raven was back.

“You said we’d move and I can have a cat? You promise to love me and the baby always?” Her light grey eyes flashed at him as she spoke.

“Yup. We can’t live here. And you can have a cat, just to start.” He rubbed her neck and shoulders.

“A cat means that while I’m pregnant, you’ll be doing the litter box. I don’t want toxoplasmosis. Dangerous to the baby. I think we should have some dogs, too. We can adopt them from the animal shelter. There is a doggie door in the mud room. Dogs are a great way to warn you who is around, Raven.”

He looked a bit shaken at doing the litter box. She took pity on him.

“We’ll wait to get a cat unless True still has some barn cats around,” she amended. “There is a barn behind the house, you know. They can live inside of it.”

“Maybe dogs are a better idea for now. And I know about the barn. Your brothers said everything is ready to move in except for a security system. I didn’t know you had updated the place.” He kept rubbing her shoulders as he spoke.

“I didn’t bother to tell you what I was doing. You hate the farm. I know it will be a change for you, but life out there will be a lot better for us. We’ll be having a few, right?” She twisted to look him in the face.

Raven was grinning. “Yeah, we can’t just have one. I’m trying here, babe. I’ll find a way to make everything up to you somehow. I promise.”

She put her hand on his. “Stop. I don’t want to live thinking of what you did in the past. That’s done. I want to have the Raven back I fell in love with. I’m not going to worry about you with other women because it won’t happen again. I should have stood up for myself and put an end to the bullshit when it started.”

He looked at his ol’ lady with a new appreciation. Where did this new Morgana come from?

“So,” she continued, “we’re going to work harder to make the dreams we had become reality. I know you are moving to the farm because you know it’s what I want, and thank you for that. For now, I need food Raven. A yogurt would be good. Strawberry and banana, please.”

Raven went into the fridge and got her yogurt and a spoon and watched her eat it, her tongue even licking the spoon. “Guess I’ll put the steaks on since True seems to have forgotten.”

Morgana laughed, and it filled his heart to hear her old laugh. “It’s our house. Why should True do the grilling? You forget how to grill some steaks?”

“I can grill, but True said he wanted to do it.” He took the steaks out of the fridge and headed to the deck. “You wanna come out here and keep me company?”

She didn’t answer but followed him outside to the grill.

* * *

True and Whistler had been eavesdropping and both were grinning at each other. They toasted the couple with beer bottles.

“I hate to ask Morgana questions, but maybe she knows something. Jinx has got to go and we need to get Elsie out of the clubhouse. Who sponsored Jinx, do you remember?” True was tired and it showed on his face.

Whistler thought about it. “Yeah. Farting Fred did. He died not long after Jinx got his patch. He was old, had a heart attack. There was no reason to think Jinx wasn’t who he said he was. He was a hang-around. He knew everyone. I don’t get it. You sure your info is right?”

True’s eyes blazed with fury. “Sure as hell. I was taunted with it every day. The girls’ names we had working for us. They know which massage parlors we own. I had nothing to do but think for a fucking year. Jinx is the only one I can think of that had that kinda inside information. The name of the fucking pig we gave money to? Who gave him his weekly bribe? Jinx. You got another rat in mind or do we have a few by now?”

Whistler stared at his hands. “I tried, True, but I’m not you. I don’t get the gut feelings you have about people. We’ll get Gonna to check them out, and if I like ‘em, I do, and if I don’t, well, I don’t. We got brothers I can’t stomach. Ain’t going to like every man in the club. Raven’s never liked Jinx. He’d complain about him, but there was nothing I could see that was wrong. I say we take Elsie and Jinx out to the pinelands and shoot ‘em. Or better yet, we drop ‘em both in that well we found. Nobody goes out there and they’d drown. We know there is no way out and anyone who doesn’t know the well is there could easily fall into it.” He got up and went to get two fresh beers. He handed one to True and drank from his own. “You just got outta jail, so we don’t need any problems. We’ll leave Elsie’s car out there and make it look like they went hiking. Jinx was always saying how he liked to hike. Makes sense to me.”

True looked at him hard. “How do we get back outta the pinelands, bro? You got answers for that? I ain’t hiking back miles and miles. If we take a quad, we leave tire tracks. Fuck that. I got a better idea. We shoot ‘em both up with pure dope and leave the car in Camden. Leave the keys in it and the problem takes care of itself. Just two dead junkies found in the car or maybe an alleyway. We can claim we didn’t know he had any addictions. Cops here know we don’t traffic in that heroin shit.”

“Who the hell is gonna give them the shot? I don’t know how to shoot up!” Whistler was getting loud and aggravated.

Morgana was standing in the doorway. She looked at her brothers and spoke up. “I could do it. If you can’t figure out any other way, I know how to hit a vein.”

Raven almost dropped the platter of steaks. “No fucking way in hell are you going near any of this shit. You wanna raise our kid from jail? True, there’s no way my wife is getting involved in this. We’ll talk after dinner. Steaks are done, Morgana. Grab the salad and there are potatoes in the microwave.”

He headed to the dining room. The others followed him. Morgana went to get the sides.

Dinner was quiet and all of them were thinking silently. When they were through, Morgana and Raven cleared the table and loaded the dishwasher together. Neither said anything but the air was filled with tension.

“I know you mean well. Babe, we have a life ahead of us. Not a life in jail. Just answer him and when he’s done, please go lie down. I don’t want you to overhear anything.” Raven hugged her to him. He whispered in her ear softly, “I love you, and we’ll handle this. Got me?”

She nodded and went to sit next to True. “Raven said you have questions for me? I did know some of the Fiends in jail. None ever bothered me, though.”

True thought long and hard. “Anyone ever mention Jinx or a chick named Elsie?” It was a longshot but he needed to know.

“Elsie, yes. This older biker had her name tatted over his heart. He was doing twenty years or more. I forget, but yeah, that was his ol’ lady. He couldn’t wait to get home to her. Elsie is an odd name, isn’t it? Only time I’ve ever heard of an Elsie, it was a cow. I don’t know if it is the same one though or what good it does. Oh wait, she stopped visiting and he was all depressed. He was diabetic, so I saw him often. He said she fell for a younger guy. I guess that would be Jinx? She sold the house and he was mad as hell.”

After spilling, she got up and left the room, as Raven had told her to.

The three men looked at each other, trying to come up with a sane and safe plan.

“It sure as hell would be easier to live where they have gators,” Raven remarked. “I say we get Gonna to rig a bomb in a car, blow the fuckers up, and let the cops think the Fiends killed them. You got motive right there with what Morgana said about Elsie leaving and selling the house. We don’t let on that we had doubts he was a Fiend. We get them drunk and say they can go free and
boom
. End of the problem. You know that Gonna has made us plenty of bombs. He hates Jinx too and I know we can trust him.”

Whistler stood up and looked at the two men. “I’m going down to have a talk with Jinx to see who else might be a rat. I prefer to do my work alone, as you both know.” He flexed his hands and laughed. “My toolbox still down there, Raven?”

Raven nodded. “It’s under my tool bench. Anything else you might need is in my box. Just don’t bust him up too bad until we got a plan.”

“You telling me how to handle myself now, bro? Don’t, I got this.” Whistler was in a mood and there was no stopping him when he was like this.

True stood up and hugged Raven. “I’m heading to the clubhouse. I wanna see what is going on there and check out this Elsie. Call me if you need help with my brother. And don’t leave Morgana alone. I wish we knew who the Fiend in jail is. Ask Morgana if she knows. I’ll call ya if I’m coming back.” He headed out into the night and Raven locked up the house.

* * *

Morgana was watching her brother hit Jinx as Raven came into the bedroom. Jinx was bleeding from his mouth and he wasn’t even trying to fight back.

“Why isn’t he fighting back, Raven? Jinx was always bragging how big and bad he was. My brother keeps whistling like he’s happy, too.” She was curious and Raven sat down on the edge of the bed.

“He knows he got found out, I guess. Most men look at the size of Whistler and decide not to try to fight him. Whistler got his name because that’s what he does when he’s pissed off and fighting. We don’t need to watch this and if he knew we were spying, he’d be pissed.” He ran his hands through his hair.

She turned the TV off and looked at him. “That explains a lot. I was young when they joined the club, but I remember that True wanted Whistler to be called Rooster, and he wasn’t having any of it. You know that True got his name from his love of the movie
True Grit
, don’t you?”               

Raven laughed. “Hell, I never knew that. I always thought it was his name and he was named for True North. I knew your dad was in the military and figured he was named for the way they marked their maps. I read up on it when I first met him.”

“Oh, no. He hated his first name and we all swore never to say it again.” She giggled as she snuggled next to him. “I feel a lot better after eating. I’m going to change too, Raven. If something is bothering me, I’ll tell you. We will have a better relationship, even better than we had in the beginning.”