Defiance (16 page)

Chapter Sixteen

For the next three days, Tru remained inside the guesthouse, wasn’t even allowed outside to grab food at the diner. Either Mathias or Rebel brought her more than enough and she ate out of boredom and worry.

There had been a few attempted ambushes on the Defiance compound. She’d heard whispers about assaults and once, she’d heard gunshots and the peeling away of tires and Rebel was inside the house with her, weapon drawn. Ten minutes later, she’d heard the sirens, watched the men outside lock her down completely, standing inside her room with Rebel and his weapon, waiting. He’d extinguished all the lights and she’d sat in the dark for hours. She hated all of this.

And it was all her damned fault.

“S’okay,” Rebel had told her that particular night. “No one’s hurt.”

But today, God, today, she needed to feel more fresh air than the slightly opened window could bring her. She’d cajoled Rebel into asking Caspar if she could take a walk around the clubhouse in the lightest part of the day. Caspar hadn’t been back to see her, but told her through Rebel that she could take a short walk.

Eagerly, she pulled on a hoodie, because it was raining and she wanted to be covered. Piled her hair in a messy bun and pulled the hood up as she pushed out of the door. With Rebel by her side, they began a slow stroll toward the clubhouse.

She wanted to say something to Rebel about Fiona, but she’d promised Caspar she’d let men be men.

Instead, she said, “Luna’s gotten prettier since I’ve been gone. I mean, I always thought she was, but there’s something different about her. Maybe she’s in love.”

He stiffened next to her, kept his eyes straight ahead, but his jaw clenched a little.

“She won’t say anything, but she blushed when I asked her,” she continued.

“You think she’s seein’ someone?” he asked, attempting to be casual and failing.

“Maybe.”

She smiled inwardly, made a note to tell Aimee and not Luna about her good deed for the day. They’d been allowed to come and bring her food, hang out for a couple of hours here and there, but really, she didn’t want them to become targets, the way she was. Kidnapping her—killing her—was exactly what the Kill Devils had planned. She wasn’t under any illusions as to why she was kept so tightly protected.

“Why aren’t you underground?” Aimee kept asking and Tru would shrug and pray that Caspar would never try to force her into the tubes.

She noticed Rebel had stopped walking, turned to see why.

“You gonna hurt him?” he asked suddenly, turning the tables on her swiftly and she wondered how long he’d been holding this in.

It was expected, although she didn’t know why. Men in the MC tested women’s loyalties all the time. The reasoning went, if you could get your MC brother’s woman to sleep with you, you just saved him from making a big mistake.

She wasn’t Caspar’s old lady yet, and most men wouldn’t have had the balls to say anything to her now. She was sure Caspar wouldn’t be happy with Rebel.

“No, I won’t hurt him. I want to be with him.”

He snorted. “Why? Because the other leader’s taken?”

“I just want to be with Caspar. Since as long as I can remember. Forever, Rebel. And I’ve got balls enough to admit it. I can’t predict the future but I know I won’t hurt him—that much, I can promise.”

Rebel’s eyes darkened.

“I’d never have come back if he wasn’t here. I came back for him.”

For a long moment, Rebel didn’t say anything. Then he started walking again and she walked next to him.

After a few moments, he spoke.

“Luna’s a real nice girl,” he said carefully. The girl he was talking about was nineteen to his twenty-two, a true free spirit with a hippie for a mom and the closest thing to a hippie biker Tru had ever seen for a dad.

She opened her mouth to agree, to push things a little further, when she saw the old police car pull up outside the side gates of the property and froze. The gates didn’t fence in the entirety of the compound. Rather, the garage and outside roads were more open during certain points of the day to allow for visitors and employees who weren’t Defiance members.

She forced herself to glance at the license plates even though she’d read the script on the side of the car easily enough.

New Jersey plates.

Pure panic raced through her and she couldn’t move or run or scream. The voice echoed in her ear.
Pretty girl shouldn’t be out here all alone.
She smelled the hot beer breath on her face, felt the meaty hand on her breasts. All her worst nightmares coming true.

Her nightmare had followed her here. Or else, it had help in finding her. She had no doubt, if she’d stayed with Padraic, this wouldn’t have happened.

He’d sold her out.

She heard a soft whistle—Rebel, calling for Bishop. According to Luna, Rebel had a warrant out for his arrest, and no matter the state on the license plate, he wouldn’t take chances.

In seconds, Bishop and Mathias were both by her side and Rebel had disappeared. She knew only because she heard their voices. She hadn’t been able to tear her eyes away from the cop car.

“Tru?” Bishop looked between her and the black and white cruiser. “What happened to you?” he murmured, more to himself as he ghosted a hand over her hair.

She didn’t want to go there, but she’d have to, now that the police had come around. She knew why, hadn’t thought about it much as a consequence. Because she’d pushed it down until she’d all but forgotten, save for those dreams she couldn’t stop from surfacing.

She’d made the mistake of thinking everyone else had forgotten too.

Mathias made a hand motion that had Bishop picking her up and carrying her back past a path of briars and finally, they stopped at the path that was slightly pitched from ground level. It was there she finally breathed again.

“I’m okay,” she said and Bishop put her down, put his hand in the air like he hadn’t meant to touch Caspar’s property. “It’s all right, Bishop. No one saw it.”

“Come on.” He opened the door with the key that had been hanging around his neck.

“Where’s Mathias?”

“He cut off the cops at the pass.”

“But he can’t...” She stopped.

Bishop ushered her inside, saying wryly, “He enjoys playing the dumb mute a little too much, but times like this, comes in handy, no?”

“Will he get Lance?”

Bish gave a small snort that seemed to indicate no. “He’ll get Caspar, if it comes to that.”

She didn’t know which to hope for, because she knew that even if Mathias got rid of the police, they’d be back.

Unless Mathias planned on
really
getting rid of them. “He’s not going to kill them, is he?”

“If he needs to.”

Bishop didn’t seem bothered by it in the least. She supposed she shouldn’t be either, had thought herself desensitized to violence. Except when it was a direct result of something she’d caused.

She’d run to Padraic’s with the police on her tail. Only Padraic and a few of his guards knew what—who—she’d been running from. They’d agreed to hide her, and she’d assumed no one had ever come to question her in Hell.

But now, there would be questions. There was no hiding here. Too many people in Defiance didn’t like that she’d come back and would only be too happy to see her dragged away.

It was only then she realized they were heading underground. Some part of her had known it, but now that she was recovering from the shock of seeing the police, her body was reacting to what she was being asked to do.

This was the first time she’d been in one of the tubes since before the Chaos. She supposed, if she hadn’t known, she might not have realized she was underground. It didn’t feel like you were in some kind of submarine, especially because there was light inside and not outside. The tubes were spherical but the floors were even and the space between walls and ceiling quite wide.

But she knew. And she had to force herself inside.

“Tru, come on. Safer for you here.”

She closed her eyes and breathed in and out. It sounded harsh to her own ears. Then she heard voices and Bishop cursed, picked her up again and forced her into the small space.

He closed the door behind them. Locked it. It was steel reinforced and it sounded like a vacuum seal, because it was. She wanted him to stop, but he didn’t, walked her through the smallest part of the tube and placed her gently down inside the larger structure, the main room of the cylindrical dwelling.

She shivered and Bishop noticed, grabbed a blanket from the couch and wrapped it around her shoulders. It smelled like Cas and that’s when she realized that it was his place.

She glanced around the tube shelter, noted a few of Caspar’s things. It was a good size down here, with several rooms in the railroad structure. “Is that Caspar’s room?”

“No, that’s mine and Mathias’s. Caspar’s is the last one down. Why don’t you wait there and try to relax. No one’s getting through me.”

She wondered if Mathias and Bishop were part of the reason Caspar hadn’t invited her to stay here. But it wouldn’t have been the only one, not by a long shot. Caspar didn’t trust her at all and judging by this latest problem she’d deposited on his doorstep, he had good reason not to.

She was feeling better now about being down here. It was spacious enough. Bright. And safe. She sauntered through the first bedroom, with two mattresses in bunk-bed fashion. It was clean and neat, with lots of weapons hung on the walls.

They were Caspar’s first line of defense. He finally had men he could trust on his side. Because he never would’ve invited anyone from the original Defiance MC to stay with him.

Caspar’s room was the same size as the other rooms, but instead of bunks there was a large mattress and box spring on a bed frame, a big, warm-looking comforter, all in deep, masculine colors. Lots of pillows and Caspar’s intoxicating scent everywhere.

How many women had been in here?

She turned away and marched back out. Bishop looked amused.

“He’s never brought any women back here.”

“And how long have you been here?”

“Not long. But he told us he’s never let any woman in here, and we’re not supposed to ever let any in, because, you know, a lot of them want in.”

“Why’d you make the exception for me?”

“Told us you were the only exception,” Bishop admitted.

Well, that was something. She went back into Caspar’s bedroom, curled up on the bed, marking the sheets with her shampoo and soap scent, the way she wanted to do to him. There were weapons here too. If those police came for her, she’d shoot for survival. That was all she could do.

Mathias

I couldn’t tell if the cops saw Tru or not, but it didn’t matter. It was near lunch, so the diner was crowded on the other side of the compound, but the warehouse they’d pulled up to was basically empty.

No one was coming around anyway. No one in Defiance liked cops much, would avoid the black and white at all costs. Except me, I guess. Not that I liked them—but I did like fucking with them, and these two numbnuts looked like perfect targets.

One was tall, the other, short. Short was bodybuilder wide—the kind who couldn’t bring his arms down all the way because he was so jacked. Which meant he couldn’t fight for shit because he could barely move.

Tall guy was definitely the issue. He looked like he could fight, looked street. Both carried their weapons on their belts and short guy carried his billy club.

“Hey, you, need to talk to you!” short called to me, motioning for me to come to them. I complied, if only to keep them out of the main gates. I ambled over, all good old boy like, with a big dopey smile on my face.

“What’s your name?” tall asked and I signed,
Fuck off
.

“What the hell’s that?” short asked tall.

I pointed to my mouth and shook my head.

“Think he’s trying to tell us he’s deaf?” tall asked and I swear to Christ, I pointed to my ears and nodded yes, my mouth and shook my head no.

“I think he can’t speak,” short said and I pointed to him. “Then how the fuck’s this gonna work?”

I shrugged.

“Can you find me someone else?” tall asked and I shook my head no. Motioned for them to get on with it.

“Let me just tell him,” short said. “We’re looking for this woman. Seen her?”

He held a driver’s license in a plastic evidence baggie. I looked at it, studied it. Held it up to the light. Then handed it back and shook my head no.

“We have it on good authority that she’s here,” tall said. “She’s blonde—green eyes. About five feet, seven inches.”

I shrugged as he continued his description.

“We’re gonna need to look around,” tall continued and I frowned, like I didn’t understand.

This didn’t seem like a sanctioned investigation. Granted, the license plates on the cop car said New Jersey, and while the majority of cars on the roads today had no plates, police cars were always supposed to.

And we were far from the coast. And this moron could be describing anyone.

But they had Tru’s fucking driver’s license. I’d have to somehow pick it off tall.

“We need to speak to someone who can talk to us,” tall said.

I tilted my head, shook it, giving my best
I’m dumb and confused
look. And even though both had started out trying to talk to me real gentle like, I knew they’d go the other route and talk loudly like I was deaf.

“You need to get me someone to talk to!” small shouted now. I shrugged, motioned to the empty lot behind me, where I had no doubt Caspar had a rifle trained on these assholes.

“Fuck this—not worth it,” tall muttered. “We’re going to come back later—this isn’t over. Where the hell is everyone?”

If they weren’t at the diner, they were supposed to be underground because of all the shit with Kian that could go down. But most of the world didn’t know this. Abel’s dream, his life’s work, was saving all their asses.

I was itching to take these cops out. Maybe Caspar would let me eventually, but for now he strolled out and headed deliberately toward the police.

They straightened. I kept up my act, giving Caspar the complete element of surprise on this one.

Caspar put his hand on my shoulder and nodded to the tall cop. “S’up?”

“S’up is that we’re looking for a woman.”

“Got plenty of ’em here. ’’Course, they only like Defiance men, not cops. Probably a couple of whorehouses you could visit in town,” Caspar leaned an elbow on my shoulder and I signed to him. “He says he can show you the way.”

“Listen, asshole, we’re looking for this woman—Tru Tennyson.” He held out the license again. “You know her?”

“No. Should I?”

“She grew up here—in Defiance.”

“Lot’s changed.”

“Not that much,” tall challenged.

“What’d she do?” Caspar asked. “Case she comes around, gotta know if she’s dangerous.”

“She killed a cop,” Tall one said. “And she’s not getting away with it.”