Stitch: Satan's Fury MC (7 page)

The entire scene seemed surreal as I watched them start to banter back and forth like it was something they’d done a hundred times. Wyatt smiled from ear-to-ear while he stood there on his tiptoes talking to his unusual new friend. Griffin glanced over in my direction as he handed Wyatt some kind of black box, and after giving me a brief nod, he started up his engine and pulled out of the parking lot. Wyatt shoved the object in his back pocket and waved as Griffin drove out onto the main road.

Rachel leaned over to me and whispered, “What the hell was that all about?”

“I have no idea,” I confessed. I honestly couldn’t believe what I had just seen. A thousand questions raced through my brain as I looked at my son. His eyes were still focused on the road, watching as his biker friend disappeared into traffic.

“Was that him? The guy from the diner?” Rachel asked.

“Yeah,” I responded.

“You little hooker! You didn’t tell me he was hot,” she snickered.

Ignoring her, I walked over to Wyatt and said, “What did he just give you?”

“I’m not supposed to say, momma. It’s in the vault,” he pouted.

“No, it’s not. Show me,” I demanded.

He reluctantly reached in his back pocket, pulling out a small black phone and handed it over to me. I scrolled through the settings, and I was shocked to see that my number and another number I didn’t recognize had been added to the contacts. I couldn’t decide if I was furious or thankful that Griffin had given Wyatt a phone. I had been considering getting him one myself, but I always ended up talking myself out of the idea, thinking he was too young or Michael might end up taking it from him. I was standing there, staring at the phone screen when it happened. Rage. I couldn’t believe that he, a complete stranger, had the audacity to give my child a phone without my permission. “He gave you a phone! What in the world was he thinking?”

“It’s in the vault, momma,” Wyatt said, reaching out and trying to take the phone from my hand.

“No, Wyatt. You can’t keep this,” I scolded.

“What? Why? He gave it to me,” Wyatt whined. I was getting frustrated, and the parking lot was getting busy with people coming and going from the movie theater. I slipped the phone into my back pocket, without another word, and I headed for the car.

Stitch

‡

I
’d only been
home a couple of hours when Cotton called everyone into church. He didn’t need to explain why we’d been called in, but I knew it had something to do with whatever was on that fuckin’ laptop I’d dropped off earlier. When I walked into the clubhouse, I went straight down the hall and headed into church. All eyes looked towards me, and I quickly realized that I was the last one to get there. My brothers were already gathered around the table, grumbling curses under their breath. They were all anxiously waiting to see what the huge pile of folders Big Mike had was all about. I took my seat, and Prez welcomed me with a nod as he hit the gavel.

The room silenced immediately as Cotton cleared his throat and said, “Looks like our friends up North have been busy. As we expected, everyone sitting at this table has a similar file – background checks, medical records, personal history. Big Mike has folders for each of you with everything they’ve been able to uncover,” he informed us, with a chin lift towards Mike, letting him know it was time to deliver the news. The room crackled with tension as the brothers impatiently watched Big Mike pass out the folders to all of us.

When he approached Maverick, Big Mike gave him a troubled look as he handed him the file, letting me know the information inside wouldn’t be good. Maverick’s eyes momentarily roamed over the letters of his name, then he eased the folder open, quickly scanning the papers inside. His calm demeanor instantly changed, his face twisting in anger as he carefully flipped through the pages; the anger literally vibrated off of him as he looked over to me, telling me without words how bad it really was. I was the last to receive my folder. Big Mike placed it on the table in front of me, stepping to the side as soon as it was delivered.

“Fuck,” I grumbled under my breath as I looked at the thick folder of information. We all knew they had shit on us, that was no surprise, but the magnitude of information before me was not expected.

“It’s one thing for them to come after us, trying to end our charter, but coming after our families… that’s a death sentence,” Cotton growled as I opened my file.

I flipped my folder open, and an all-consuming rage instantly coursed through my veins when I saw Emerson’s face staring back at me. My breath quickened to a doglike pant as I sifted through the endless pictures of my sister. Every last detail of her life was in the file. They knew what she fucking drove; they had her fucking address, her class schedule – everything down to her work time sheet. The motherfuckers even had the police report of my parents’ car accident and endless information on my grandparents. I didn’t bother looking at what they had on me. They knew who I was, what I could do. They had to know that I would be coming for them. I had to fight the urge to get up and leave that instant. I wanted to find and mangle each and every one of the motherfuckers who had been watching us.

“They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get this much intel. They’re not going to give this thing up without a fight,” Cotton explained. He glanced down at his folder and ordered, “Clutch, I want you watching over Cass. Don’t let her out of your sight.” Cotton didn’t have an Old Lady or any kin that I knew of, but he did have Cassidy. When she rolled into the club looking for a bartending job, none of us missed the way he looked at her. He’d had that same lustful eye since, and even though he’d never claimed her as his own, we all knew she was off limits to the rest of us. He never said the words, but I had no doubt that his folder included pictures of Cassidy.

“What the fuck? They even have Henley’s birth certificate. What the hell were they planning to do with all this shit?” Maverick roared.

“Mike is still working on that. There’s more. Turns out we aren’t the only ones the Python’s have been looking into,” Cotton said as he tossed a stack of files on the table. “They got the same intel on all the brothers of the Forsaken Saints.”

“Does Rip know?” Maverick questioned. Rip was the president of the Forsaken Saints and Lily’s father. Even though we hadn’t had many dealings with them, we’d always considered them to be an ally.

“Put a call into him earlier,” Cotton answered. We all knew Maverick wanted to know if Lily and John Warren were included in Rip’s file, but he managed to show restraint and didn’t push for more information. Even though Maverick’s brother, Gavin, had been declared John Warren’s father, Maverick would still want to make sure he was safe.

“Doc, you need to get the med room fully stocked and prepared for anything. We need to be war ready. Stitch, have Q and Two Bit go through all the guns and ammunition with you. I want a full inventory of whatever either of you need ASAP,” Guardrail ordered, pointing to the four of us.

“I stay ready, but I’ll go through and make sure we’ve got whatever the women and children might need as well,” Doc responded.

“I keep the armory war ready, just plan on Q and Two Bit being unavailable until we’ve cleaned and rechecked all our ammo,” I responded. “I’ll get you a full report and a list of anything we might need to Guardrail, as soon as possible,” I assured him.

“It’s going to take some time to put a plan into action, so until we do, consider everyone on high alert… eyes on the women and children at all times,” Cotton ordered the table as he hit the gavel, ending the meeting.

“I’m heading out,” I announced as I stood to leave. “Going to get Emerson and bringing her back here.”

“I’ll help Two Bit and Q with the arsenal till you’re back,” Maverick offered.

I gave him a quick nod as I stood up to leave. I had to get a move on it. Every minute felt like hours wasted – I had to get to my sister.

Guardrail stopped me before I left and said, “I’ll have Cassidy get her a room ready.”

“Thanks, brother. I’ll be back in a few hours.”

Even though it was just over an hour drive to Emerson’s apartment, it’d been almost six months since I’d seen her. She was in her final year at the University of Washington, and she’d been busy with her classes. I didn’t expect her to be happy about leaving her studies to come back to the clubhouse with me but unfortunately for her she didn’t have a choice. I had to do whatever it took to keep her safe, regardless of how she felt about it.

I knocked on Emerson’s door several times but got no answer. I was starting to lose my patience, so I pulled out my cell and sent her a text. Seconds later, her door flew open and Emerson lunged at me, wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. “I can’t believe you’re really here! I’ve missed you so much!”

“Missed you, too,” I told her. “Need to talk to you.”

She pulled back, giving me a questioning look. It was a familiar look, one that I’d become accustomed to over the years. Emerson was a worrier. Guilt over our past troubled her, making it difficult for her to believe that I really had the life I wanted. Emmerson tucked her long brown hair behind her ear and said, “Something’s wrong.”

“Let’s go inside,” I told her. I followed her inside the small apartment. I glanced around, noticing how much the place suited her. It felt like a home, comfortable and inviting.

She sat down at the kitchen table, crossing her arms as she prepared for the news, and asked, “What’s going on?”

“Gonna need you to come back to Clallam with me. The club has run into some trouble and taking you back with me is the only way I know to keep you safe.”

“What? I can’t go anywhere right now, Griff. I’m in the middle of the semester!”

“I know, Em, and I get that your classes are important to you, but there’s no other choice. You’re not safe here, and I’m not leaving here without you.”

“Just wait a minute. This doesn’t make any sense. Why would I need to come back with you? I don’t have anything to do with your club.”

I reached in my pocket, pulling out several of the pictures that were included in my file and placed them on the table in front of her. She leaned forward and her eyes grew wide as she studied all the different images of her around campus. “Who took all of these?”

“Someone who knows you’re important to me, so they’ll try to use you to get to me. I’m not going to let that happen, so you’re gonna need to stay at the clubhouse until we get this thing sorted out,” I explained.

“How long is that going to take?” she huffed with defiance.

“No idea. Could be a few weeks. Could be more.”

“You can’t do this to me. Not now, Griffin,” Emerson pleaded. “I’ve finally gotten away from Grandfather, and now you want me to pack my stuff and go to your motorcycle club?”

“And what are you planning to do when they come knocking at your door? Because they’re coming. You can count on that, and these aren’t a bunch of frat boys I’m talking about, Em. They’ll kill you, but only after they’ve beaten and raped you.”

“Stop trying to scare me!”

“Only telling you the truth.”

“What about my classes?” she asked.

“We’ll figure something out… online classes or something. Mike can get you set up once we get you settled. For now, I need you to go pack your shit. We’re leaving in fifteen,” I ordered.

“This is crazy, Griff.”

“Maybe so, but it is what it is. You know you’re everything to me, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you safe.”

She sat quietly with a scowl on her face while she mulled everything over. I knew she had a good thing going here, and it was understandable for her to be pissed. The whole thing had come as a shock to her. Hell, she’d never even been to the clubhouse before. That part of my life had always been closed off to her, and now I was demanding that she drop everything and submerse herself into my world. It wasn’t exactly fair, but Emerson was a smart girl. She knew I wouldn’t ask her unless there really was no other option. Without a word, she got up from the table and headed for her room. Twenty minutes later she came out of her room carrying two large duffle bags.

“Just so we are clear… I’m not happy about this, and you need to get Mr. Mike or whoever to get me setup to work on my classes online. I’m not going to get behind, just because some bozos want to cause trouble at your club.”

“Understood,” I told her as I took her bags.

“Are there any cute guys at this club?” she asked smiling.

“Just get in the car, Emerson,” I ordered.

“You know Grandfather is going to have a shit fit if he finds out about this,” she warned.

I didn’t have time to worry about his bullshit, so I decided to ignore her comment and head to my bike. By the time we made it back to the clubhouse, most of the guys were gone, busy tending to their families. Emerson reluctantly followed me down the hall, obviously feeling nervous about being here. Her eyes anxiously skirted around the room as she tried to acquaint herself with her new surroundings. I was pleased to see that Guardrail had kept his promise, and Emerson’s room was ready when we walked in. There wasn’t much to it – just a bed, TV and a small desk in the corner, but I hoped that she wouldn’t be here long. When things settled down, she could get back to school and finish her classes. After helping her get everything sorted, I headed for the door and said, “Got something I need to take care of.”