Wild Blaze (9 page)

thirteen.

Gaige finished off his smoke and
put it out. He folded his hands and stared at the bar. Miller stood with his
back to the bar, arms crossed. Nate had a beer. Jace looked pissed off. And
Blaine rubbed his forehead, wincing.

“
What
’
s wrong, Blaine?
”
Miller asked.

“
Bitch
punched me.
”

“
What?
”
Gaige asked.

“
Yeah.
Some crazy whore. We were going at it, man. Really hard. Really wild. I was
buried deep in her. She was saying some nasty shit to me. So I licked two of my
fingers and I jammed them up her ass. Really hard and rough. The fucking bitch
screamed and punched me. Right in the forehead.
”

Everyone laughed.

“
So
what happened then?
”
Brody
asked.
“
She leave?
”

“
Fuck
no,
”
Blaine said.
“
She sucked me off. Good enough I
guess. But as I started to come
…
she
…
well, returned the
favor.
”
Blaine held up two
fingers and winced.

“
Christ,
”
Miller said.

“
That
’
s wild,
”
Brody said.

“
I
bet he liked it,
”
Nate
said.

“
Of
course he did,
”
Gaige said.

“
Shut
up,
”
Blaine said.
“
My fucking forehead really
hurts.
”

“
Can
we maybe get to business here?
”
Miller asked.
“
I mean, we
have a war brewing with someone
…
and we have drugs being run through Frelen
…”

“
I
got it all from Heather,
”
Brody said.

“
I
bet you did,
”
Gaige said
with a grin.

“
Fucking
right,
”
Blaine said.
“
Make that little nurse pay. You
be the big, bad doctor
…”

“
Listen
to me,
”
Brody growled.
“
He
’
s
running drugs through the hospital. Forcing her to distribute.
”

“
She
’
s in on it?
”
Miller asked.

“
Forced.
By Lyle
’
s hand. She gets
nothing. We can stop it though. He needs her. I know this game, Miller.
”

Miller turned and looked at Brody.
“
Drugs? That
’
s the one thing
…”

“
She
’
s not using. She
’
s not dealing. She
’
s not collecting. She
’
s passing them along. Because
she
’
s afraid for her
fucking life. I know it when I see it. Give me that much.
”

“
He
’
s right,
”
Gaige said.
“
We
ripped Lyle
’
s pet away.
”

Pet?

Brody hated the sound of that, even
if Gaige was right.

“
So
what do we do?
”
Miller
asked.

“
Send
Heather back into the fire,
”
Brody said.
“
And then we
take care of it.
”

Gaige eyed Brody.
“
You okay with that, bro? Sending
your girl into that?
”

“
I
just met her,
”
Brody said.
“
This club is at war. We can
’
t risk anything else going
wrong.
”

Miller clamped a hand to Brody
’
s shoulder.
“
I
’
m
telling you right now. I
’
ll
give it one chance. If it goes wrong, then I
’
m
taking people out personally. I respect your connection to all this. Your old
man and shit. So I
’
ll let
this one ride out. But one chance, Brody.
”

“
That
’
s all I need,
”
Brody said.

Miller looked around the clubhouse.
“
Day
’
s over. Drink to our brother, Erik, and his
recovery. Tomorrow, we take care of our problem with these drugs.
”

Miller walked away.

“
Bro,
you okay with this?
”
Gaige
asked.

“
I
have no choice,
”
Brody
said.
“
I know what she
’
s been doing and she
’
s sincere about it.
”

“
Look
at you,
”
Nate said.
“
The right pussy comes along and
you
’
re happy.
”

“
What
’
s she made out of, chocolate?
”
Jace asked.

“
Chocolate
pussy,
”
Blaine said.
“
You know, I
’
ve had that perfect, interesting
taste. I mean, it was fun to watch her squat over a bowl
…”

“
I
wish one of those whores would shoot him,
”
Nate said.

Gaige laughed and Brody followed.
They stared at Blaine. He smiled and took his drink and left, rubbing his
forehead.

“
Hey,
”
Nate said to Brody.
“
What head are you using on this?
”

“
The
right one,
”
Brody said.
“
If she dies, she dies, fine. But
she can
’
t get thrown back
into Lyle
’
s arms. He
’
ll kill her slowly. Day by day.
Fist by fist. Taking her freedom and hope. That
’
s
the worst death. I
’
ve seen
it.
”

Brody swallowed hard and walked
away.

When he opened the door to his
room, he found Heather on the bed, sleeping. He walked to the bed and touched
her hair. She let out a soft purr and smiled.

 
She
’
s comfortable here. With
me. What a fucking mess.

fourteen.

Heather woke and jumped up. She was
disoriented yet really relaxed. She looked around the room, bringing the
details back one at a time. To her right the bed was messy but empty. Had she
slept alone? Had Brody come back?

The door opened and Brody was
there, leather cut on his strong body and two plates of food in his hands. In
the middle of each plate was a mug of coffee.

“
Quite
the balancing act,
”
Heather
said.

“
Yeah.
Watch me. I have a second career in the making, in case this badass biker thing
falls through.
”

Heather giggled.

She tried to move from the bed but
Brody stopped.

“
Ease
up, where are you going?
”

“
I
don
’
t want to mess up the
bed,
”
Heather said.

“
What?
Because of breakfast? You
’
ve
never had breakfast in bed?
”

Heather lowered her eyes.
“
I
…”

“
Fuck
that,
”
Brody said. He put
the plates right on the bed.
“
Eat
in bed. Make a fucking mess, sweetheart. Live a little.
”

Heather smiled and blushed.
“
I
’
m
living a lot right now. More than I ever thought.
”

“
Yeah,
well don
’
t get too
comfortable. Enjoy your breakfast in bed. Because after this, you
’
re going to fucking work.
”

Heather had a piece of bacon in her
hand. She looked at Brody and dropped the bacon.
“
What?
”

“
You
’
re going to work,
”
Brody said.
“
I
’
m
sure you have a shift today.
”

“
I
…”

“
Even
if you don
’
t, you
’
re working today. We
’
re going to check on Erik and
you need to be there to work.
”

“
Why?
Brody, if Lyle
…”

Brody sat down on the bed. He took
a piece of bacon off his plate and bit at it. He wouldn
’
t look at Heather now, leaving her feeling even
more worried.

“
Listen,
”
Brody said softly,
“
I
’
m
not going to apologize for who I am. Or for what my club has to do to survive.
I
’
m not going to apologize
for what
’
s happening. The
bottom line is that we need you, sweetheart. And you need us.
”

“
You
’
re fucking blackmailing me?
”

“
No.
This isn
’
t an information
play. This is a fucking mission.
”
Brody finished his bacon and looked at Heather.
“
This
is real shit, sweetheart. And I
’
m
going to protect you when it
’
s
all done. But right now, Lyle is going to come looking for you. You
’
re going to sweet talk him to
death. I need to know the next play.
”

“
He
’
s going to hit me,
”
Heather said.
“
If he gets me alone
…”

“
Not
in the hospital.
”

“
You
don
’
t know that.
”

“
Give
him what he wants,
”
Brody
growled.
“
Play into him. We
get information and we end this.
”

“
End
this by killing Lyle?
”

Brody stood up.
“
I didn
’
t want to ruin your breakfast, but you
’
re starting piss me off.
”

“
I
’
m pissing you off?
”

“
Stand
up. Right now.
”

“
Fuck
you.
”

Brody turned and looked down at
Heather.
“
You don
’
t get how powerful I am. How
powerful Back Down Devil is. I didn
’
t
want to show you something
…
but I think I have to now. To prove it to you.
”

“
What?
What Brody?
”

“
Come
with me.
”

“
I
’
m half naked.
”

“
I
don
’
t care. Come with me
right now.
”

Brody put a hand out and Heather
took it. She was an idiot for taking it, but damn, Brody was just too sexy when
was mad. He wasn
’
t mad the
same way Lyle always got mad. This was a different kind of mad. Whatever the
hell that actually meant.

“
I
’
m serious,
”
Heather said.
“
I have just
…”

“
A
shirt and a thong on,
”
Brody said.
“
I see it. It
’
s making me hard. But that
’
s good enough. Come with me.
”

Brody led the way from the room and
down the hall. He turned to go toward the main part of the clubhouse and Heather
pulled at him. Brody growled and then opened another door. They walked into a
room that was wide but small. Maybe some kind of storage closet. But in the
middle of the floor was a chair. Someone was tied to the chair. Hanging above
the person was a light with a chain.

“
This
is what I didn
’
t want to
show you,
”
Brody said.

He pulled on the chain and the
light came on. He pulled Heather to the front of the chair and when she saw who
it was, she let out a gasp.

“
Mr.
Peter?
”
she whispered.

“
His
name is Peter,
”
Brody said.
“
No Mr. Peter. Right,
asshole?
”

Brody smacked Peter in the face.
His eyes opened, bruised and swollen. His face was destroyed, the white gag in
his mouth stained red from blood. He had one foot in the grave, the other just
seconds away.

“
How?
”
Heather asked.
“
He was picked up
…
he was
…”

Brody grabbed Heather by the arms
and made her look at him.
“
This
is what I
’
m telling you.
Back Down Devil owns and runs Frelen. We get what we want when we want it.
Peter has been telling us a lot of interesting shit. Useful. That
’
s why he
’
s not going to be suffering much longer. But we
need you next, sweetheart. You have to get to that hospital. You have to fuck
with Lyle
’
s head.
”

“
I
don
’
t understand
…”

Brody grabbed the gag and pulled it
from Peter
’
s mouth. He
slapped him in the face again.
“
Tell
her, Peter. Tell her the next deal.
”

Peter swallowed.
“
He
’
s
…
he
’
s got a pickup truck. It
’
s got a cover on it. He
’
s moving a lot this time. The truck is registered
in your name, Heather. He
’
s
…
he
’
s fucking you
…
just like he fucks everyone
…”

Peter
’
s
head nodded.

Brody fixed the gag.

Heather
’
s world started to spin.

“
That
’
s the truth,
”
Brody said.
“
He has a truck coming into
Frelen full of drugs. If it gets picked up, you
’
ll
be in jail for the rest of your damn life, sweetheart.
”

Heather shook her head.
“
I would never
…”

“
We
know about the truck, the shipment, the timing, everything. That
’
s what a few fingers gets you
…”

Heather looked down at Peter
’
s hands and felt her stomach
flip. His left hand was missing his pointer, middle, and ring finger. Even as a
nurse, and seeing some wild and deadly things come through the hospital,
nothing ever seemed so violent and real.

Heather turned and threw up. She
fell to her knees and Brody crouched down next to her. He rubbed her back as
though she were just sick with a stomach bug.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Brody said.
“
But
now you understand it. We
’
re
going to blow the truck up. Griffin is on it already. He
’
s good with that shit. The truck goes up, the drugs
are gone, and Lyle will be fucking livid. All his rage and anger will come to
you, sweetheart. That
’
s why
we need you. And the second he
’
s
ready to explode
…
well, he
will explode. But he won
’
t
hurt you.
”

Heather turned her head, tears
filling her eyes.
“
This is
what you do? For a living?
”

“
This
is my life,
”
Brody said.
“
It
’
s
not beautiful, but it
’
s
honest. And you won
’
t be
hurt today. Tomorrow. Or forever, sweetheart.
”

Brody reached out and wiped the
tears from Heather
’
s eyes.

Behind them, Peter let out a
painful and weak groan.

Heather shut her eyes and began to
nod.

She would do it.

She would help take down Lyle.

More so, she would do anything to
make Brody and Back Down Devil happy. And yet, somewhere inside herself, she
didn
’
t quite understand
why. But it felt right.