Summer Storm: A Satan's Fury MC Novella (2 page)

Neil had started prowling around just outside of my office, glancing in my direction like he knew something was going on. I shook my head and tried to focus on the task at hand. I pulled up my email, and after explaining Neil’s demands, I asked Kane if he could meet me at the site on Thursday. I had to get things started and fast. Time was up. As soon as I hit send, my heart started to race. What if I had been wrong about everything? What if he was some kind of serial killer? Or a fat, balding old man with a boner for younger women? I had been so stupid, but there was no turning back. I had no plan B. When his response popped up on my computer screen, however, all my doubts quickly disappeared.

May 1, 2015

2:45 p.m.

Kane Blackwood

SF Construction

Morning All-Star,

So Thursday’s my lucky day, huh? Just tell me where and when, and I’m in. Don’t worry about your presentation. I’ll make sure I’m ready; you just make sure
you’re
ready. I’m going to need you all day to get this done right.

*     *     *

Butterflies and fear
raced through me as I read his words. I smiled to myself when I saw the new nickname he had for me. I still don’t know what had possessed me to tell him that silly story. I’d nearly died of embarrassment the day I tried my hand at baseball. I never forgot the expression on the coach’s face as my ball crashed through the front windshield of his car. He was furious. It didn’t matter that I had actually hit the ball for the first time; he was too busy freaking out about his car. I never was able to hit the ball like that again, and eventually I gave it up altogether. Sports were just not my thing.

*     *     *

Guardrail

‡

“H
ow’s our little
project going? Have you found out anything we can use?” Maverick asked.

“I know she isn’t frightened of the club life like she should be, if that’s any indication of how much she talks to her brother,” I told him as I took a drink of my beer.

“You think she has any idea what he’s been up to?” he asked.

“No. Nothing has come up on any of the feeds. He hasn’t been to her house, and there hasn’t been any communication between them through her phone or email. The prospects are still rotating shifts, and none of them have seen any sign of him.”

As Vice President of Satan’s Fury, it was up to me to find Tony, the lowlife motherfucker that stole a fifty thousand dollar shipment from the club. Because he’d been a long-standing leader of one of the street gangs in town, he’d gotten a unanimous vote at the table for the drug distribution. He was a professional, but in the end, he’d decided he could fuck us on our money. Surprisingly, the asshole actually thought he’d be able to get away with it.

He’d forgotten that Satan’s Fury owned the whole damn town. Because drugs were an unavoidable reality in the outer east and west side of our territory, we negotiated which gangs could run product and where. It was the best way for us to keep control of what drugs were sold in our area. We’d allowed Tony and his minions to distribute our product, same as the other little set on the west side. We used them out of necessity. Our product kept us in control of the territory. They did the distribution, and we took our cut… a large cut.

Nobody in the clubhouse talked to anyone about anything, so we were caught off guard when Tony managed to manipulate Maverick’s girl, Hailey, to get information about the club. It cut deep. Maverick had it bad for Hailey, and no matter how many times she’d come and gone, he was always there for her. Hell, he didn’t even realize she’d gotten hooked on junk until it got bad, and even after that it took an overdose for him to finally be able to cut her off. Although we all knew he would never share club business, the whole situation had us all on edge.

The last time she called Maverick begging for money, he’d tried putting her off by telling her he was going on a run and wouldn’t be back for a week. Unfortunately, Hailey’s decision to give Tony that little tidbit of information had given him a five-day jump that nobody saw coming, and it had cost us… big. We’d come home early only to find that Tony and his crew had taken off with our money, and Hailey was nowhere to be found. It was a shit ton of fuckery.

They had to be found… all of them. We knew Tony was hiding, and we had eyes everywhere. It was only a matter of time before we found him. We started with their families. Unfortunately, none of them kept any strong family ties that we could pull intel from. They had kids like kittens, and too many baby’s mamas to count. Since we decided that cutting the head off the snake was our best option, Maverick, our Sergeant of Arms, and I have spent weeks searching for information on Tony’s whereabouts. When we came across the name of his sister, we both agreed she was our best lead.

“Has she said anything about Tony? Do you think she knows where he is?” Maverick asked.

“Nothing yet, but she’s opening up more every day. If she does know anything or he contacts her, I’ll get her to talk,” I told him confidently. I could tell she was beginning to trust me. A part of me felt guilty about misleading her, but in the end, I knew I didn’t have a choice.

“You’ll find him. Once you put your mind to something, there’s no stopping you,” Maverick told me as his hand slapped against my back. “That’s why the Pres put you on this.”

“I’ll do whatever it takes to find him, and he’ll pay for fucking with the club,” I told him as I slammed my empty beer bottle down on the counter. “He will slip up, and I’ll be there waiting when he does.”

From what I could tell, Allie hadn’t spent a lot of time with her brother recently. They’d both been in the foster care system, but growing up in separate homes had made them completely different people. She’d made a life for herself, while Tony fell deep into drugs, alcohol, and gang life. I’d been able to retrieve several emails he’d sent her over the past few years. It was obvious that Tony did what he could to keep his sister from his lifestyle, but whenever he got down on his luck, she was always the first one he’d reach out to. She always remained loyal to him. Even when she knew his life was spinning out of control, she was there when he tried to contact her. Her love for her brother never wavered, and I respected her for that.

He’d royally fucked up this time, and something in my gut told me that he’d try to contact her. Just like he always had, he’d come running to her when the shit hit the fan. I needed to get in contact with her, so when I saw the ad in the paper, I knew I had my in. I’d known that she worked for Child Services, but I didn’t realize that she was so invested in making things better for those kids. I had to admit, I liked that about her. It was one thing to work with them every day, but this was more than an ordinary house visit. This would help a lot of kids all at once, and she’d come up with the entire plan herself.

“If she knows something, you’ll get it out of her,” Maverick told me with confidence. “Just be patient.”

“Yeah, but it may be harder than I thought.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s… I don’t know, man. She’s just not what I expected,” I confessed. “Hell, I don’t know how to explain it.”

“I get it, brother. I’ve seen her picture. She’s a hot ass. I can see why you might get a little distracted,” he snickered.

“It’s not that. She’s just… different,” I told him. “I thought she’d be some kind of stuck up bitch. Hell, you’ve seen her… all dressed up in that fancy shit, business suits and high heels. I wasn’t expecting her to be so… whatever. It doesn’t matter. If she knows something about Tony, I’ll get it out of her.”

“Ha, wait a minute… sounds like she’s getting to you, brother,” Maverick prodded.

“Maybe, but it’s just a job. Finding out where that dickhead ran off to is my only focus,” I told him, but I knew it wasn’t that easy. I was a selfish bastard, and I wanted it all. Ultimately, I knew I had to deal with Tony, but Allie definitely had me thinking. I found myself in an impossible situation, and I had no idea if I could make it work.

“Whatever you say, man. Just be careful with all that. Remember, her brother is walking dead… nothing is going to change that. If you need any help, you know where to find me,” Maverick offered.

Maverick was a good man, one you could depend on. Unfortunately, he had a hard time believing that. He was still carrying around a lot of guilt from the shit that’d gone down over the past few months, but he never let that get in the way of the club. He was a brother that you could always depend on.

“Thanks, man,” I responded.

“Hey, you never know… maybe this thing with her will work out. I’ve seen crazier things happen.”

“Good things like her don’t happen to me, brother,” I told him, shaking my head. He patted my back as he turned to leave. As I watched him walk out of the bar, my mind drifted back to Allie. I found myself wondering if Maverick could be right. Was there a way that I could actually have her? Without thinking, I pulled out my phone to see if she had responded to my last email. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face when I saw her name.

May 1, 2015

3:15

Allison Parker

Department of Children’s Services

All-Star?? Really? You’re going to pay for that one, mister. :)

Looking forward to Thursday. I’ll bring the coffee.

*     *     *

The girl was
getting to me. I knew that she was becoming a real distraction, and I needed to focus on her lowlife brother. There was one problem though… I couldn’t stop my finger from hitting the reply button.

May 1, 2015

3:30

Kane Blackwood

SF Construction

I’ll take mine however you like yours, All-Star.

See you Thursday.

*     *     *

May 1, 2015

4:25

Allison Parker

Department of Children’s Services

How do you do that? You give me a crazy nickname, and I’m sitting here smiling like a goof. I think you’re getting to me.

BTW, thanks for the “coffee order.” :)

*     *     *

Allie

‡

W
hen I walked
into the office, everyone was standing around grumbling as they drank their morning cup of coffee. I smiled and tried not to act too eager about getting back to my office. I wanted to check my email. I hadn’t been online since yesterday afternoon, and I was curious to see if Kane had messaged me back.

As soon as I sat down at my desk, I saw that I had a message in my inbox. I anxiously clicked the button to open my emails, and his name was the first one that caught my attention.

May 2, 2015

9:45 p.m.

Kane Blackwood

SF Construction

Like that I’m getting to you, babe.

Night.

*     *     *

May 3, 2015

9:08 a.m.

Allison Parker

Department of Children’s Services

Morning, :)

Hope you’re having a good day. I’ve been thinking about you. Wondering if you’re as good with your hands as you say you are….

*     *     *

Just as I
was about to click the send button, Neil walked into my office, interrupting my train of thought. “Daniel sent over the changes to the blueprints this morning. Have you had a chance to look them over?”

“I was just about to ask you about that. Do we really have to take out the meeting room?” I asked with a sad sigh.

“Allie, it’s just not in the budget. If you can find a way to fund it, then you can have him put it back in the plan,” Neil said as he leaned against my doorframe. His arms were crossed and resting on his protruding belly. I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes at him.