Devil’s Vengeance (Devil’s Disciples MC #6)

Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

CHASE

I fucking knew the date would go to shit. Trick wasn’t enough of a man to take a woman out on a real date. He probably thought since Mariah was a librarian, she’d be too timid to argue with him. After a few weeks, I knew her well enough to know she wouldn’t take shit from him. Unfortunately, he didn't show his true colors until he had her well and truly trapped. She was probably right. Even if Trick didn’t give a shit if she left, his crew might take issue with it. Not all crews let women have a damn choice.

Fuck. I should’ve forced her to stay away from him.

The place her location tracker marked was familiar to me. And it was in our fucking territory, too. If she was right and the bar was filled with Iron Horsemen, then I’d have no choice but to tell Croy. I wanted to handle my shit on my own, but it felt like Trick was determined to drag our clubs into our business.

That wasn’t important right now, though. I needed to get to Mariah. I was closer than I originally thought since the bar was in our territory, so it didn’t take me long to get there. She told me she’d go out the back door, so I went that way, skidding to a stop when I found her fighting off a guy twice her size.

I barely stopped to put down the kickstand before I was off my bike and running after her. I recognized the moves she was using, that was shit Lacey taught the girls. Maybe she would’ve known more if I hadn’t been such an asshole chasing her away.

The guy got a handful of her hair and drew his fist back, but before he could hurt her, I grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, kicking out his knee in the process. The shock made him drop her, and she quickly put a few feet between them without leaving my line of sight. Good girl.

“Fuckin’ Disciple,” the behemoth growled from his knees. “He knew you’d come.”

Of fucking course he did. Like Trick was just waiting for me to show up, he kicked the back door open and he and five guys spilled out. Should’ve fucking stopped the asshole with my pistol. But I didn’t want to put Mariah at risk.

“Well, well, well… The white knight has arrived. How’d I know she’d call you?” He shot a pout at Mariah, though it was laced with condescension. “What’s the matter? Didn’t like my date?”

“Go fuck yourself,” she hissed, taking a few steps back when one of Trick’s guys tried to circle around us. Man, she was fucking smart. When she cast a glance my way, I tipped my head toward my bike. I wasn’t taking on six assholes at once. Seven, including the one at my feet. I could take a hit, but I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could take them all on. And probably more inside. I had to get Mariah out of here.

“Now, now. That’s not very nice. I brought you flowers. I took you on a ride on my baby. I think I should get compensation for that.”

He took a step toward her, which spurred me into action. With a twist, I snapped the wrist of the guy I held down. He cried out in surprise and when I released him, he cradled the injury to his chest. I reached for my pistol, but before I could get ahold of it, Trick pulled his out and pointed it at Mariah.

“Ah, ah, ah. Hands in the air, baby boy. Unless you want me to ruin your girlfriend’s pretty face.”

I put my hands up, slowly pushing to my feet. “She’s not my girlfriend, Trick. She’s another innocent woman who ended up in your path. Let her go. Your problem is with me.”

Trick scoffed. “I don’t have a problem with you, Jesse . That was all you. But you disrespected me and you’re going to have to pay for that.” He got closer to Mariah, running a knuckle down her cheek affectionately. “Maybe she’s not your girlfriend, but I wouldn’t have found her if you hadn’t led me to her.”

At my angry disbelief, he tsked at me. “Doesn’t your crew have IT? Or are you just a bunch of dumbasses hiding behind an old name? You should know we can track that shit. And I knew after you saw me at the rally, you wouldn’t be able to stay away. It was effortless finding out where you were.”

Fuck. I avoided doing anything at the clubhouse because I knew Neo could track what we were doing. I didn’t think about it happening the other way around. Trick was right. I led him straight to Mariah by using the library to sneak around behind my crew’s back.

Mariah jerked away when he tried to cup her face, flinching when he gripped the back of her neck and forced her closer. “Don’t be angry with me, babe. It was Jesse who got you into this mess. You’re just the one who has to pay for it.” He flashed a smirk at me. “Take off your clothes. You’re going to take everything my crew has to give you while baby boy here watches. Maybe he’ll finally learn who his betters are after we break you.”

He licked a long stripe up her cheek, drawing a shudder and a grimace from her. When her eyes locked mine, I saw the fear there. The worry over how this would turn out. But I also saw determination. She wasn’t going to stop fighting. And if I wanted to protect her, I had to give her a way out.

“Does your crew know how you screwed them over years back?”

Trick’s face fell, and he whipped his head around, eyes wide and furious. “You shut the hell up.”

Acting casual, I shrugged. “What? I figured after all this time, you would’ve come clean about it. I mean, if I lost my crew thousands by getting in the way of one of their jobs and handing over the evidence to the cops, I’d want to pay that shit back ASAP.”

That got him a few looks from his crew members. I told him when we were just kids that it was a stupid idea to join the crew he accidentally screwed over. He hadn’t meant to do it, but his crew didn’t know that. And the more panicked he got, the less his attention was on Mariah .

“That was you!” he yelled, turning fully to face me. He still had a hand on Mariah’s neck, but the gun left her side, pointing at me instead. “You called the fucking cops!”

Technically, no. Hannah did. But I wasn’t about to get into it with him. I shrugged again. “Not my crew, man. You’re the one who spooked the buyer. Besides, your idea wasn’t any better. You were gonna keep the drugs and sell them yourself. Do you still do that now? Skim product to pad your pockets?”

His crew was getting more suspicious, which meant their attention wasn’t on Mariah either. I just needed him to let her go so she could get away. My keys were still in my bike. She could either hop on and drive off or run if she couldn’t drive it herself. Either way, she needed to get away. I wasn’t letting her become another victim of Trick’s stupidity.

“Is what he’s saying true, Trick?” an angry bald man with a thick gut demanded.

Trick shot him a scathing look. “Fuck no. I don’t steal from my crew. He’s making shit up to try and turn you against me.” Cocking his gun, he pointed it at me. “I’m sick of your shit, Jesse. You’ve always caused trouble for me. It’s time for you to join that bitch you’ve been pining over all these years.”

He knew just what to say to fuck with my control. And if Mariah hadn’t intervened, I would probably be dead.

She used his distraction to step forward, throwing back her elbow right into his nose. I jumped out of the way when he pulled the trigger on instinct, the bullet grazing my arm instead of the chest where he was aiming. I didn't let the pain stop me, heading straight for Mariah. She threw another elbow into Trick’s gut and ran, coming straight for me. I caught her and shoved her behind me, shouting over my shoulder.

“Get on my bike. Go!”

Thank fuck, she was the type of woman not to argue. She ran off, only to be waylaid by one of Trick’s crew, who finally decided to get in on the action. They might be questioning his loyalty, but theirs wasn’t in question. They’d stand by him until he was proven guilty. The rest came after me, and I was more than a little grateful that Reaper started training me after I got my ass kicked protecting Riley. He said it was because he wanted someone useful protecting the girls, but it saved my life a time or two.

Positioning myself so they had to go around each other to get to me, I clocked the first guy across the jaw. He came back swinging, but that was what I wanted, and I ducked and aimed a punch to his ribs, throwing my weight into it so the ribs broke on impact. He curled in on himself and I used that to my advantage, slamming his face onto my knee. I moved on to the next guy while he was still falling, jumping out of the way when he lunged at me and elbowing him in the kidney. The momentum sent him sprawling, and I knew he’d be back up in a minute, but I couldn’t focus on it. Two guys came at me at once, and I nearly got taken to the ground. That wouldn’t end well for me.

I was so busy fighting, I couldn’t do anything about Mariah. I heard her scream, but when I looked in her direction, someone used the distraction to punch me in the temple. It made me dizzy enough that they got a few hits in, knocking the wind out of me. It was a little fucked up that Reaper would hit me just right to do the same damn thing, but at least because of him, I didn’t let it stop me from moving. I kicked out, catching one of them in the shin, and he went down with a shout. Pretty sure I heard something snap when I did that. I was glad I was wearing my steel toes tonight.

The odds weren’t great, but I was confident I could get the upper hand if I just hit them in the right spots. But then more Iron Horsemen spilled out of the bar, drawn outside by the noise. Too many for me to have even a chance of fighting them off.

Please tell me Mariah got away. I couldn’t hear over the ringing in my ears to tell if she started the engine or not.

A shot rang out, making everyone freeze. When I looked around, I was stunned to see Mariah pointing the gun in our direction, her attacker groaning and clutching his balls at her feet. Her eyes were wide with terror and fury, but it was the phone pressed to her ear that scared the bikers around me.

“The police are on their way. I wonder how many of you have warrants out for your arrest?” she seethed.

From the articles I’d been reading, fucking all of them. Which meant they could continue this fight and possibly kill me, or get the hell out of dodge before the pigs showed up. I wasn’t waiting around to find out. I shoved through the group who’d circled me while they were trying to make a decision, going straight for Mariah. When I slid onto my bike, she was quick to follow, phone still against her ear and weapon pointed to defend us. She only put it down when I barked at her to hang on. As I pulled away, I heard Trick shout over the noise of his crew getting on their bikes.

“This isn’t over, Jesse! I’m coming for your girl!”