Blood & Rust (Lock & Key #4) (32 page)

“
WES! WAIT
! Where are you going?” Alicia followed her son, who charged past me, out the front bay of Eagle Wings.

“Ma, I’ve got to get to Zach’s.”

“Please don’t be late for dinner again. Wes? Wes!”

“I heard you, goddamn it!”

“Hey—” I raised my voice. “Don’t talk to your mother that way.”

Wes only glared at me as he climbed on his bike, started her up into a metallic furor, and took off down the track.

Alicia came up beside me. “He hasn’t listened much lately.”

“I’ve noticed. Then again, I didn’t either at his age.”

A sigh heaved from her lips. “He’s hardly ever at home, spending all his time with his friends, mostly that Zach, who isn’t one of my favorites. He has some new girlfriend, too, but I don’t even know who she is,” added Alicia. “He has football, of course, and I’m glad he’s keeping busy. I know I’ve been doing that myself, more than ever these days.”

Nina had been keeping busy, too. A couple of weeks had gone by since she and Catch had gotten caught. She did clerical work for Grace at the Eagle Wings office and ran errands for Alicia, keeping the day to day of the clubhouse running smoothly.

Alicia had always been devoted to her club, but to her community as well. She enjoyed showing the town that the One-Eyed Jacks were a respectable, integral part of it. She volunteered at Wes’s school, organized various runs for charity with other clubs, and helped Grace with her hospital fundraiser.

“You know, he’s missed a couple of afternoons and Saturday mornings with me and Boner at the shop and without calling to even make an excuse. In general, his communication skills have pretty much gone down the tubes.”

“Ever since this whole mess with me and his father…” Alicia’s voice trailed off, referring to Jump’s umpteenth hook-up, this one with two strippers, at a party months before.

The hook-up had led to the club meeting room getting robbed by one of the strippers, who had been put up to do it by Catch. A real fine moment for our club president, both professionally and personally. I couldn’t judge, but his old lady—the mother of his kid, who had stood by him and played his game for years and years—certainly could.

“I get that, Alicia. I do.”

“Wes is heading into his senior year now, and he’s plenty busy. He’s going to try for a football scholarship too.”

“I’m sure he’s going through a rough time with the way things are between you and Jump now.”

“If Jump’s screwing up his relationship with his son, that’s on him. But I shouldn’t let my emotions take over in front of my kid or let him know details. It’s hard, Butler. Real hard.”

“I know Jump’s been off on a lot of runs lately, one right after the other.”

A sour smile tipped her lips. “He’s a busy captain of industry all of a sudden, bringing home that bacon. He came back today, so I’m making it a family event.” She crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue.

I let out a laugh and flung an arm around her shoulders, planting a kiss on the side of her head.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

“For what?”

“It’s good to know one of you men gives two shits about the other side of the coin.”

“Alicia, we all care about you. You know that.”

“Are you still gonna care after I leave him?”

“How you deal with your old man is your business, baby.” We watched Wes circle the track at top speed. The kid was ready for the Moto Grand Prix. “Look, how about I talk to Wes, find out how he’s really doing? I don’t want to interfere, but if I can get him to—”

She put a hand on my arm. “I’d like that. A lot. Thank you.”

Yes, Wes did remind me of me at his age, but he also reminded me of my brother, Stephan.

My brother, the good guy, the one who’d had it all, and my recklessness had blown that all to pieces. Blown
him
to pieces. And all Stephan had ever done was walk the straight and narrow and give a shit about me. I’d reaped the rewards of my natural talents with minimal effort. Stephan had been all about the effort.

Wes had both natural talents and a responsible work ethic. At least, he used to.

I shifted my weight as Wes shot down the track and headed out onto the road that led off the property and into town. He raised a hand at me and his mother as he sped past.

“Wes! Helmet!” I yelled.

He ignored me.

“Helmet, you idiot!” Stephan would shout out after me when I’d take off after practice.

I rubbed a hand down my chest and across my stomach where that familiar tension bunched inside.

Yeah, Wes used to remind me of Stephan, but now…now, he was looking too much like me.

And that had me worried.

JILL HAD INVITED NINA
to Becca’s birthday party over at Tania’s house today, and she was going.

“Catch isn’t going to be there, is he?” I asked her when we woke up this morning.

“No, of course not. Jill said it’s a girls-only party.” Nina pulled a t-shirt over her head. “I’m going to the salon here in town now, then look for a present. I put it off until the last minute, as usual.”

“You need money?”

“No. I still have plenty left from what you gave me earlier this week.”

“All right.” I swung my legs out of the bed and took in a breath to combat a sudden wave of nausea. Nothing like indigestion first thing in the morning.

Nina left, and I took a shower and got dressed in my sweats. After downing a weak cup of coffee from the pot that she had made earlier, I got on my bike and headed to Eagle Wings at the Club where I was working on a bike rebuild with Boner.

An hour later, I got a text from Finger about a meeting he’d been able to arrange for me with a transport contact of his from Idaho. Finger was in town with Catch and would stop by the club on his own to discuss a few details I needed to be aware of before the meeting.

I called Nina. “Hey. Could you drop off some clean clothes for me? I came here in my shittiest sweats and a ripped shirt, and I’ve got somewhere to go in a couple of hours.”

“Sure. I’ll come by on my way to the party.”

“Thanks.”

Finger arrived at the club. I wiped my hands on a rag and met him as he got off his bike. “Thought I’d come up here in person since Catch had to come for his kid’s birthday.”

“He’s here?” I asked.

A grunt escaped his throat. “Catch is in Rapid City, waiting for the girl party to be over. Then, when they all leave—”

“You mean, when my old lady leaves?”

“Especially your old lady, he’s heading over for his daddy time.”

“And you came with him to make sure today is all about daddy and his little girl?”

He slanted his head. “That’s right.”

“You gonna go have some cake and juice, too?”

Is Tania going to sit on his lap and feed him?

He scoffed. “I’ve got other shit to do while he visits. Let’s discuss this meeting. They’ve been wanting to meet you for a while now.”

Finger told me all about this Flames member from Idaho and how he wanted him to work with the Jacks on a new route headed west.

Nina drove through the gates and parked. She got out of her RAV4 and waved a plastic bag in the air that I assumed had my clothes in it. I gestured toward the clubhouse, and she nodded at me, heading inside. Within a few minutes, Nina came back out.

“Sorry to interrupt,” she murmured.

“No problem,” I said.

“I left the clothes in your room on the bed.”

“Thanks.”

“Sure. I’m off to the party.”

“I’ll walk you to your car.” I threw an arm around her shoulders as we crossed the yard. “What did you end up getting Becca?”

“A princess Barbie doll.”

“Isn’t she a little young for Barbie?”

She made a face, as if I had asked why the sun rose this morning. “No. It’s a simple Barbie without any fancy accessories. The kid could choke, you know.”

“Right. Good thinking.”

I gave her a quick kiss. “You come right back here after.”

“Here at the club?”

“Yeah, I want you here while I’m out of town. I’ll only be a couple of hours.”

She made a face. “Fine.”

With Catch in the vicinity and me out of town, I wasn’t going to take chances that he’d try to see her.

We reached her RAV4 by the front gate, and she got in, slamming the door shut.

“Later.”

“Yep,” she said.

I strode back toward Finger.

“She settled her ass down?” he asked.

“She’s fine.”

A slight grin upturned the edges of his mouth, and he let out a grunt as he shoved on his leather gloves. “I’m off.”

I glanced over at Nina’s car. Her head was bent over the steering wheel. She scowled and got out of the vehicle. Jump pulled in driving his SUV, and he braked. She smiled huge at him, her body relaxing into curves. Jump gestured toward her car.

“Looks like your woman’s got car trouble. You gonna fly to her rescue?” asked Finger.

Jump got down from his vehicle and got into the RAV4, settling in the driver’s seat.

“Jump seems to be handling it.”

“Yeah.”

Finger and I tagged fists, giving each other a nod. He swung his leg over his vintage chopper, adjusting himself in his saddle. “Call me, let me know how the meet goes.”

“Will do.” My eyes went back to Nina and Jump.

Suddenly, Jump’s face stiffened from behind the windshield. He propelled himself from the car on an ominous howl, his long braid flying, shoving Nina back as he went. Her designer handbag went flying.

“What the—”

Boom
.

The ground shuddered under my feet. Nina’s car shook like a fake movie prop, a shell. Orange fireballs rolled and unfurled in the air.

My lungs choked. “Holy fuck!”

Finger was at my side, and we sprang behind a row of bikes, our hands flying over our heads. Charred debris soared in the air and rained down on us, crashing to the ground.

I shot up. “Nina!”

Women screamed, men shouted, alarms blared. Thick black billows of smoke blocked any trace of Nina or Jump. Boner was on his cell phone in the doorway of the office.

I hurtled toward the car, toward Nina, Finger at my heels.

Nina lay facedown at the other end of the car, her one arm twisted awkwardly, blood splattered along the side of her face.

I wrapped my hand around her neck, pushing her tangled hair out of the way.

Her pulse thudded under my touch.

Thank fuck.

Weak, but it was there.

Shit, the baby.

“Ambulance is on its way!” Boner’s yell cut through the air.

Finger crouched over Jump who was sprawled on the ground in a heap.

“How’s Jump?” I shouted out at Finger, coughing, my eyes burning in the dense smutty smoke.

Finger raised his head. His one gloved hand was planted on Jump’s chest, the other pinching Jump’s nose.

He was taking him out.

Finger leveled his hard gaze at me, a slight lift to his chin.

Holy fuck.

“Butler!” Boner came up behind me. “How is she?”

“She’s out, but she’s alive.”

I turned back to Jump, but Finger was gone. Gone, like a silent phantom who’d made ominous gestures and then disappeared into the black smoke surrounding us.