Through The Weeds (Nightshade MC Book 2) (20 page)

“I love you, too.” Caroline wasn't sure how the conversation had turned to his vasectomy.

“One of these days, I'd like to make a baby with you. The procedure is relatively simple to reverse. I may have looked a little online. I think it's something that we should talk about. Doesn't have to be now.”

“I don't know the first thing about being a parent. You don't, either. It seems like that's two strikes to start. And then there's this. We chose this life. Our kid wouldn't have that luxury.” Caroline gripped his shirt in her hand, terrified at what he would say next. It could be a deal breaker for him.

“You've never really known club life in peaceful times, Caroline. Things have been going to shit on the regular, but it's not always like this. Sometimes, it can be pretty boring.” He reached out and stroked his hand over her hair. “How about we talk about it again when things have calmed down some. We've got plenty of time.”

Caroline nodded, buried her face against his chest, but she knew that there was a good chance that there wouldn't be plenty of time. Soon, things with Jake and The Wild Cards were going to come to a boil. She wasn't stupid enough to believe that they would come away unscathed.

Chapter Seventeen

“The phone is on. The phone is on.” Bones did a little victory dance as he came out into the bar with his laptop. “The GPS is working and places her...” He set the computer on the bar. “She's on Market Street. Wait, she's at the warehouse.”

“Call Monroe. See if anyone's moved at the house.” Buster ordered. Bones nearly dropped his phone as he rushed to do so. A glance around the room showed him that only the most hardcore hang-arounds remained. All the girls were gone. Amelia and Caroline were sitting at one of the tables. They had been playing cards, but they'd stopped. “And take everything downstairs, now.”

Nightshade was scattered about, all over the city. Ace was at the warehouse. Monroe was at the house. Train was upstairs, drugged to the gills because he'd torn the majority of his stitches earlier when he'd been determined to play a part in the surveillance.

They were stretched too thin, even with the prospects that they'd taken on. Of course, no one could have seen them losing two members in one fell swoop. He sure hadn't thought it possible. Edge's betrayal, after they'd given him a second chance, was like a kick to the face.

“You want me to get Train up?” Danny asked. “I can call Ace and Monroe back.”

“Not yet. Let's hear what Monroe has to say first.” Buster motioned towards the basement door. “Not sure that it's a good idea to tell Ace she's in the warehouse. He's been a bit twitchy lately.”

“You think? If you ask me, that whiny little twat he's banging isn't helping that much,” Danny replied. “You're thinking if she's there, he'd go all kamikaze?”

“I think it's a possibility,” Buster replied.

“Monroe says there's been no movement. He's seen Jake several times, once getting the paper and the other times through the windows. Ace says the warehouse is quiet.”

“You called Ace?”

“Figured I should if I was calling Monroe.” Bones replied. He looked between Danny and Buster, an expression of confusion on his face.

“What did you tell Ace? Did you tell him about the phone turning on?”

“Yeah.” Bones nodded. “Should I have not?”

“Get him on the phone, Danny. Tell him to stay right where he is until I get there.” Buster turned his attention to Bones. The man was all but squirming. He couldn't give him too much shit, he hadn't thought not to spell out not to call Ace. “Relax, Bones. You did good tracing the phone.”

“He said he's got no intention of going inside.” Danny ended the call. “Says to give him some credit, he's not exactly stupid. That said, I think that we need to get there, now. I didn't like his tone.”

Buster nodded. “Bones, you stay here. Keep an eye on the women and the cameras. Once we're gone, don't let anyone else in. Think you can manage that?”

“I've got it, Boss. You don't have to worry.”

Buster knew that he was going to worry anyway. It was nothing against Bones, but they still didn't know enough about The Wild Cards to make an effective strike. And with their low numbers, they were going to have to rely heavily on The Street Kings. Even with the new friendship seemingly on solid ground, he didn't want to have to owe too many favors. There had been a time when he'd worried Royal would run the club into the ground. Now he was terrified that he was going to be the one who let it all far apart.

<#<#<#<#

“No one has been in or out since I've been here.” Ace lit a cigarette. “No trucks. No cars. So, either all of the Wild Cards live inside that building, or we've been watching the wrong place. I got closer.”

Buster shot Ace a sharp look, which he, of course, ignored. “What did you see?”

“Most of those cars in the lot aren't in shape to drive. I'm starting to think that this is a fucking decoy.” Ace began to pace. “I'm starting to think I'm tired of this asshole and his guys being one step ahead of us at every step. We've wasted too much time watching this place and that house.”

“How close did you get? Close enough to look in the windows?” Buster wasn't sure he thought that Ace was wrong.

“No.”

“We wait until it's dark,” Buster decided. “Danny, you take over here for Ace. Ace, come on. We're heading back.”

“No.”

“Excuse me?” Buster hadn't expected an outright refusal.

“I'll stay here. I'm good. I'm not going to go in or get close. I'll stay.” Ace tossed his cigarette. “Not that there's anything to see, if I'm right. Guess we'll find out in a few hours.”

Buster realized he could order Ace, in no uncertain terms, to leave, but he didn't. He wasn't sure exactly what was going on in Ace's head, but he'd bet good money that it had something to do with Jillian. “Is this about her?” He asked directly.

“No. This isn't about Jillian.”

“Then how did you know that I was talking about her?” Buster asked. “Don't bullshit me. Don't bullshit us. Right now, Nightshade needs you at your best. That means that you need to sleep, get some food in you and shower. Definitely shower.” He grinned when Ace flipped up his middle finger at him. “Danny will stay. He'll keep an eye out. Tonight, we'll all come back. Get closer and see what we see.”

“I got a fucked-up feeling about all of this. A fucked-up feeling about her.” Ace lit another cigarette. “I can't shake it. I'm a fucking idiot.” He looked like he wanted something to hit. “She's married to the enemy, and I'm worried about her.”

“It's because you love her, just say it. And don't even bring up Tabitha to me. That little twat is just a distraction, an annoying one at that.” Danny cleared his throat. “It must suck to know she's with Jake now, but it's the fact and you've got to deal with it.

“Did I ask you?” Ace demanded. “Why don't you go back to the bar and try to knock up your wife?”

“Hey!” Buster stepped between the two men. “We've got bigger fish to try. Once all this is over, you can beat the piss out of each other. How's that sound?” Both men stepped back, put the personal shit to the side, like he'd known that they would.

<#<#<#<#

Buster only let himself relax when Ace was upstairs and in the shower. He wasn't sure the man was going to come back at all, but he had. “Uh, Buster?” Bones came over, his voice just above a whisper. “I've got something that you should see like right now.”

“What's going on?”

“Downstairs. I don't want to show it up here.” Bones didn't wait for a response.

Buster wasn't sure he wanted to see whatever it was, but he followed the man down to the basement regardless. “What do you have?”

“About twenty minutes ago, Caroline's phone got a message from Jillian's phone. It was a video.” Bones cleared his throat. “Just watch and see. I put it on the laptop. It's cued up and ready to go.

Buster sat, pressed play and couldn't resist the urge to snarl at the screen at the sight of Ace being filmed as he checked out the cars parked in the lot. The video cut off and began to play again. This time it was the inside of the warehouse.

“What the fuck are you doing recording me?” Edge's voice made Buster sit up straighter. The man came into the frame with a frown on his face. “And where's my sister? You said that I'd get to see her by now.”

“And you will. Calm yourself. She's still a little leery. After all, you did pimp smack her the last time that she saw you. You should also know, I haven't told her that you're going to be here or what you've done. You can do that yourself.”

Buster could only hear Jake's voice with him holding the camera, most likely in a smart phone, but he could imagine the expression on the man's face. He was enjoying this.

“Hold the fuck on. You haven't told her. You said....”

“I lied.” Jake laughed. “And there she is.” The camera panned over to Jillian as she entered the room.

“Edge?” Jillian stepped forward, the camera focused on her briefly, but Buster couldn't get a good look at her face. He watched the siblings embrace. “What are you doing here? What's going on?”

“I'm with Jake now. I'm a Wild Card.”

“What?” Jillian shoved back from him. “No.”

“Ask him how he earned his Wild Card patch, Darling.”

“What did you do, Edge? What did you do?” Jillian demanded. Buster leaned closer to the screen, as if that would get him closer to the action. Seconds ticked by slowly. Edge didn't answer.

“He betrayed his Brothers. Killed one of them.” Jake sounded thrilled to be the one to break the news. “One of your favorite members of Nightshade.” The camera focused on Jillian. Her face was blank, almost too blank, and Buster realized that she'd done so on purpose. “Oh, come on, Jilly, aren't you going to ask who?”

Buster had only heard one person refer to Jillian as Jilly, and that was Ace. Jake was fucking with her, which didn't seem to indicate wedded bliss. What the fuck? “Fuck you.” Jillian stuttered the words. The impact could nearly be felt a moment later as she launched herself at her brother.

There was no way Buster wasn't going to grin at the sight of her punching Edge in the face. The grin faded quickly when Edge punched her back. She was knocked to the ground by the force. “It wasn't your precious fucking Ace. It was Rock.”

“Rock? Rock?” Jillian was back on her feet, a little dazed, but obviously furious.

“Shot him right in the head,” Jake confirmed with a chuckle. “Not a second of hesitation. Kind of like this.” The sound of the shot made Buster jump. Edge slumped to the floor, blood pooling from his chest.

The camera angle flipped, and Buster found himself face to face with Jake. Even though he knew that it was a video, and impossible, he wanted to reach through the screen and rip the man's spine out through his mouth.

“Did you enjoy that show?” Jake was smiling. “See, I only needed Edge for a little information and some assistance. Obviously, I wouldn't have been able to get close to Miller on my own.” There was a whimper in the background. “And Jillian. Sweet Jillian. Well, she was just fun. I thought that I'd get more out of her, but she was pretty tight lipped. Well, mostly tight lipped.

“You son of a bitch.” Jillian's voice could be heard in the background.

“Shut up, bitch. Did you really think that I would want you?” Jake asked. “One more word, and you'll be bleeding out like your brother. It's time to say your goodbyes.” His attention returned to the camera. “And as all this is going on, Buster, you and your men are outside. Isn't that precious?”

The video ended there. “See why I didn't want to show that upstairs?” Bones sounded nervous, as if he'd done something wrong.

“Yeah, I see.” Buster sat back in the chair, played the video again from the start. “We were going to wait until dark to check out the warehouse. Plan just changed. Get everyone. I need to call Manuel.”

“Do I tell 'em about the video?” Bones looked a little nervous, no doubt because he'd pictured having to tell Ace.

“No. I want them to see it. I want them all to see it.” Buster kept his eyes on the screen, tried to see what he wasn't seeing. Body language and all that shit. He trusted his gut, but it wasn't able to tell him much, except that Jillian's reaction to what Edge had done was genuine. Edge's surprise in his last seconds of life was surprise. “When Ace gets out of the shower, send him down.”

Buster had one more chance to watch the video before Ace came down the stairs. “Hey. Bones said you needed me. Let me guess, the little fuckhead couldn't figure something out. Needs the expert.”

“I wish it was that, Brother.” There was no way to sugarcoat the precarious situation Jillian was in or the fact that it was on Nightshade. She'd have never been a blip on Jake's radar if not because of them. “I need you to sit. I've got something for you to see.”

<#<#<#<#

The plan was simple. They'd go in hard and fast, side by side with The Street Kings. And they were all in, all members of both clubs would be there in full force. Buster had more than a few reservations about leaving the women there with just the hang-arounds, but there was no real choice in the matter. They had to give going after Jake everything they had.

The warehouse was lit, the same lights as the night before, according to Ace and Monroe, who'd both been on watch. The number of cars were the same. Jake might not be inside, but he'd sent the tape for a reason. He wanted this showdown as much as they did. It could be a trap; they were all aware of that. Each man moved carefully forward. The front door was unlocked.

“This ain't right.” Train shook his head. “I smell a setup.”

It was what they were all thinking voiced out loud, but that didn't change the facts. “Be careful. Everyone,” Buster demanded. There were eleven of them, and he could only hope that it was going to be enough.

Buster had feared they'd find a labyrinth of rooms, but instead it seemed to be one big, and empty, working floor with several doors on the far wall which likely led to some sort of offices. In one of those rooms they would find Edge's body. He just hoped that they wouldn't find Jillian's as well.

Buster kept his guard up even when it became obvious that the warehouse was empty. One by one the rooms were searched. There was no sign of Edge's body, though a pretty significant blood pool indicated where he'd bled out, and no sign of Jillian, but most importantly, there was no sign of Jake.