Biker Justice: A Skull Kings MC Novella (10 page)

After I finished quoting her own words back to her, I drained my coffee and slapped a couple bucks onto the table. “Before you try to fix my love life,” I said, “maybe you should pay some attention to your own.”

I immediately regretted it the moment I walked outside, but my bitterness was too strong. Aspen chose her path, and I chose mine. By being Liam’s old lady, she was committing to a certain way of life. Secrets, loyalty, and sometimes crime came with the territory. The Skull Kings put the club and their brothers first. For me, that wasn’t an option.

I’d spent not even twenty minutes inside of the diner. When I got back to my car, I noticed an envelope clamped under one of my windshield wipers. Confused, I glanced back at Aspen through the window of the diner. I could see her shoveling her hash browns into her mouth, oblivious to anything going on outside.

I could only think of one person who could’ve left this here, and the fact that he’d done it without me or Aspen noticing was almost impressive. Instinct urged me to throw away the letter, but for some reason, with the effort it must’ve taken him to reach out to me this way, I figured I might as well see what he had to say.

I shoved it into the bottom of my purse for later and drove off.

––––––––

C
ar—

I know I messed up a lot of things for us, and I understand why you wouldn’t want a guy like me to be around you and Xander. But here’s the thing: the gang and the drugs, that’s all temporary. It’s not like I’m the one who’s into all of that—it’s Lisbeth. And I’m going to work with her to fix up her life.

I think what you’re really afraid of is yourself. If Lisbeth never came back to town and I still pursued you, would you have gone along for the ride? Or would you have made up another excuse? Because that’s what you’ve been doing. Making excuses. First it was because I was too immature. Then, it was because you had a son. Well, now you know that I’m actually eight years OLDER than you and I really like kids. So what if I’m a special agent who’s promised to help out one of your close friends? Most people would be thrilled.

I’m not the danger here, Car. You are. You got scared, and you gave up. Not just on me, but on Lisbeth. She came to you first, remember?

Good luck with everything.

—Michael Logan Holder

––––––––

L
ogan was wrong. I wasn’t scared. I was being smart. But he was right about one thing.

I gave up on Lisbeth.

The letter weighed heavily in my mind as I finished my Buddy’s shift in a haze of indignant fury. The fact that Logan blamed me for leaving a dangerous situation when I had a son to protect was just annoying, but pointing out that I’d abandoned Lisbeth was a bit too much.

Oh, he was good with his words all right. But he only reinforced the fact that I’d never want to speak to him ever again.

I knew I had to call Lisbeth, and it was the first thing I did when I got off work. I started dialing the moment I exited through the doors, listening to my call connecting as I walked across the parking lot.

“Hi, this is Lisbeth’s phone...”

I hung up. Maybe she was asleep. Or maybe, she was screening my call. If she was, I didn’t blame her. I blew out my cheeks as I got into my car and started the engine.

I forced myself to think about all the apologies I owed as I drove home. Lisbeth was at the top of the list, obviously, but Aspen deserved one, too. Sure, I wasn’t biker girlfriend material, or FBI girlfriend material for that matter, but that didn’t mean that Aspen and I had to give up being friends. Normally, friendship required a little effort.

My phone rang in my purse as I turned a corner, and I practically lunged for it, sending my car wobbling. I hoped with all my guts that it was Lisbeth calling. Eerily enough, it was actually Aspen’s picture that popped up on my caller ID screen.

“Hello? Aspen?”

“Carmen.”

My relief was swiftly replaced with apprehension. Her voice sounded strained, like a string pulled taut, threatening to break at any moment. “Something wrong?”

“Can I come over? We really need to talk.”

“What is it? Did something happen to Lisbeth?”

“I should really wait to tell you in person.” She paused to swallow so hard I could hear it through the phone. “It’s Liam. And Logan.”

My stomach turned to lead. “Okay. I’m on my way home right now. You can meet me there.”

“I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

I hung up, tossed my phone aside, and stepped on the gas pedal. “Jesus,” I muttered. How much more drama did my poor house need in a year? But something inside me told me that this was important. Aspen sounded worried.

She sounded scared.

* * *

I
found Aspen wringing her hands in my driveway, washed in the light of my car’s headlights. I shut off the engine and rushed out to meet her.

“What happened?”

Aspen’s forehead creased. “Logan—Logan, he—”

I gathered her under one arm. “Maybe you should come inside.”

Xander ran up to greet us when I opened the door. Gia, his sitter, rose from her seat on the couch, preparing to leave.

“Hon, can you stay another hour? I’ll pay you ten extra.”

Her thin eyebrows jumped in surprise. “Sure. Um...should I take him to his room?”

“That might be a good idea. I’ve been reading him
Holes
before bed
.
It’s on his bookshelf.” When Xander began pulling her away, I whispered, “A chapter and a half should put him to sleep. Just knock on my bedroom door when you’re done.”

Aspen and I retreated into my room. I closed the door behind us and heard her flop onto the end of my bed.

“Take some deep breaths,” I said. I had to take some deep breaths of my own before I could even turn around to face her. “Tell me what happened.”

Aspen shook as she stared at me unblinkingly. “Liam and I got into a big fight.”

Shit.
“Was it about Lisbeth?”

Aspen nodded. Her eyes looked shiny all of a sudden. I sat down beside her as she prepared to explain further.

“I told him I wanted to help, but he seemed so determined to fix everything all on his own. He’s always been alone. Well, except for his brothers in the club, but—”

“Aspen,” I said softly, “you can’t help him, Lisbeth,
or
Logan. It’s way beyond anything you can handle.”

“You don’t understand. They’re going into it on their own.
Without
anyone else. Without the rest of the Skull Kings. They left two hours ago and I made him promise to call—”

I pulled back. “What are you talking about?”

“What are
you
talking about?”

“I’m talking about Lisbeth and the fact that Liam and the Kings were going to fix her mess.”

Aspen scoffed. “No, Carmen,” she said, shaking her head. “There’s way more than that.”

I detected a sliver of resentment in her words. She might as well have said,
You would’ve known all this if you stayed with Logan.
She could have, but she didn’t.

“Aspen,” I began, “I’ve been a real shithead.”

“Huh?” Obviously, it was not what she’d expected me to say.

Suddenly, I had to get everything off of my chest. “Things were going south with Logan, and I lashed out at you because you happened to be nearby. I’m sorry.”

Aspen gave me a strange look. “Are you seriously bringing this up right now?”

“I just have to get it out, okay?” I said in a rush. “I’ve felt horrible about it all day. And then you called me, and you said something about Logan, and now...” I faltered. “Now, I realize that I care about him, even though he’s a big fat liar.”

I felt like punching myself.

“Well, I’m sorry, too. I should’ve told you about him. It was a huge secret to keep from you. But seriously—”

“Yeah, let’s get back on topic.” I waved my hands at her. “Just spit it out.”

“Logan, Liam, and Lisbeth left for Phoenix two hours ago. They said they were meeting some girl down there.”

“Anna,” I whispered, remembering.

“You know her name? What else do you know?” Aspen grabbed my shoulders. “You have to tell me, Carmen. I have no idea what they could be getting themselves into.”

“I don’t know much,” I said quickly. “I mean, from what Lisbeth told me, it’s likely that they’re going to meet Anna at a drop house.”

“What’s a drop house?”

Oh god.
My stomach sank. I studied Aspen’s smooth, naïve face. How could she not know about drop houses, coming from a past like hers? It had to be Liam’s doing, thinking he was protecting her by keeping her sheltered. I reminded myself to give him a speech about that.

“It’s a house where smugglers drop off huge loads of drugs. It’s like a hub.”

All the color drained from Aspen’s face. Her earlier words filtered through my mind, and I began to feel just as flushed as she looked.

“The rest of the club doesn’t know,” I said.

Aspen pressed her lips together.

“Why wouldn’t they tell them? Or Noah, at least?”

“I have no idea!” Aspen said, her voice rising high and shrill.

We stared at each other, panic evident on both of our faces. It wasn’t what we knew already that was dangerous, it was the
unknown
. We had no idea how powerful and far-reaching the True North gang really was. We had no idea whether the drop house was still in operation, whether it was empty at the moment, whether Anna was even alive. Neither did the boys, yet they’d agreed to drive down there without telling anyone else, on a random night based on Lisbeth’s word.

“He promised to call me,” Aspen whispered.

But he never did.

The more I thought about it, the sicker I felt.

Something was very wrong.

––––––––

N
oah and Shayna lived in a well-maintained house on the good side of the railroad tracks. The flowers popping cheerily out of the window boxes were Shayna’s touch. The oil stains, socket wrenches, and spare bike parts in the driveway were Noah’s.

I stood on the front walk, holding a sleeping Xander in my arms, as Aspen plowed ahead and rang their doorbell. After a moment, a light came on in one of the windows. Then, the front door opened. I recognized Noah’s sleepy voice murmuring at Aspen through the screen door.

Aspen waved for me, and I rushed up to the front steps just as Noah stood aside to invite us in. He was barefoot, wearing only a wife beater and boxer briefs. On any other day, I would’ve appreciated the novelty of seeing him out of his usual uniform of black leather and boots. Tonight wasn’t the night, though. I walked right past him into the living room and lowered Xander onto one of the plush couches.

Shayna appeared at my elbow, surprising me. “Hey there,” she whispered, her voice still gravelly with sleep. She covered Xander with a granny square blanket.

I touched his hair.
My little professor.

“I called the rest of the guys,” Noah said, his voice practically booming in the stillness of the night. He was already in his jeans, and his riding jacket was slung over his shoulder. “Do you know where Liam took them?”

“I think so,” Aspen said. “I searched the history on Liam’s computer. He looked up an address right before he left. I wrote it down.”

Noah extended his broad hand. “Give it here. We’ll take care of it.”

Aspen slipped him a torn half-sheet of paper. “So are the guys coming here, first? Should we just follow you?”

“No. You gals are staying put,” Noah said.

“But we can help!”

“Shh!”
I hissed, pointing to Xander.

“But we can help,” Aspen tried again in a whisper.

Noah’s shoulders shook, and I could tell there was a smirk hiding behind his beard. “How? Are you going to claw a bunch of gangsters to death with your manicure?”

“That’s not funny.”

Aspen looked to me for help. I simply shrugged my shoulders and tipped my head toward Xander.

“We’ll take care of everything,” Noah said. “It’s the middle of the night, Aspen. Everything will be right by morning, so you might as well get some sleep. Stay here, if you want.”

When Aspen opened her mouth to protest, Shayna silenced her with one touch on her back. Helpless, she sat down with me on a loveseat. Shayna took her place on her favorite armchair, and the three of us listened to Noah as he made a few more calls and finished getting dressed.

The screen door made a metallic
clang
as it shut behind him. Then, Aspen unleashed her fury.

“I can’t believe you just stood there. I thought you wanted to help Logan. Why did you even bother to come out here at this time of night with Xander if—”

“Aspen—”

“Now, I’m all worked up and he wants me to
sleep?
”

“Aspen. Listen. All we have to do is wait for Noah and the gang to leave.”

Aspen faltered. “And then...”

“And then, we’ll get in my car and follow.”

Aspen brightened, only to frown again a second later. “How long should we wait? What if we end up passing them on the interstate?”

“It’s past midnight, Aspen. We’ll just be a pair of anonymous headlights to them.”

“I like that,” she whispered, nodding to herself. “Ooh, that’s good.”

Shayna clicked her tongue, catching our attention. “Girls, I really don’t think that’s a smart idea. An old lady is supposed to do what her man says.”

I looked at her. “Well, good thing I’m not anybody’s old lady, then.”

* * *

T
he drive down had taken almost an hour, and it took another thirty minutes for us to find the address. We’d discussed what we thought we’d find when we arrived. The Kings would’ve been gotten to the house way before us. If there was trouble, it would’ve blown over by the time we got there. If the house was empty after all, at least Aspen and I could see it for ourselves and gain a little peace of mind.

We never expected road closures, yellow police tape, and the flashing red and blue lights of dozens of police squad cars.

“Do you think that’s for our boys?” Aspen asked apprehensively when we first spotted the lights in the distance.