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

Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43

CHASE

Croy told me to stay away from Mariah during the work day. He wanted her to be used as bait and Trick wouldn’t get near her if I was there. But until Mariah agreed to the plan, I wasn’t budging. I didn’t hover, since Trick was ballsy enough to show up while Bear was nearby, but I wasn’t leaving. I walked around the library, checking emergency exits and any other access Trick might have to get in. All the emergency exits were alarmed, which meant if he was coming in, there’d only be one way to do it quietly. None of the windows opened large enough for anyone to slip through and there was no way to force it from the outside. The windows were even shatterproof, so he wouldn’t be busting through them without a lot of noise. It’d give Mariah enough time to call for help, and me enough time to get to her.

I was coming out of the bathroom after checking the windows to make sure they couldn’t be used as an entry point when I ran into the coworker. She was a shrewd older woman, her eyes almost always narrowed on me when I walked past. I was going to just ignore her, but she sidestepped me, stopping me with a hand up.

“Hold on. I have a few questions if you don’t mind.”

“Depends on the question,” I replied, mirroring her when she raised an eyebrow at me. That shit didn’t work on me. She’d only get answers if I felt like giving them .

“How worried do I need to be? Should I give her more time off? Encourage her to take a leave of absence?” My brows furrowed, and she sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’ve hardly left her side since that slimy biker showed up. I know you’re protecting her. And considering her last bad date tried to kidnap her, I appreciate your concern. But if it's safer to keep her home…”

“It’s not. If he is stupid enough to come for her, it’s safer if it happens here. She’s down the street from the police station and there’s that silent alarm that’ll help.” I didn't mention the cameras because I hadn’t gotten approval from Croy yet. If he said no, I was fully committed to paying for it out of pocket, but I preferred to do it in-house so Lewis could watch over the feed. If a security company set it up, it would only be used to look back on the incident, not catch people in the act.

The coworker nodded slowly. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Do you think he’d do anything in broad daylight? That seems extreme.”

“I’m not going to pretend I know how that asshole’s mind works.” She gave me a flat look, so I followed up with, “But if it were me, I wouldn’t risk it. Too many witnesses. Even if the library was having a quiet day, there are schools surrounding it and the cops are just down the block. It’d be hard to slip away unnoticed. Showing up yesterday was a threat, but I don’t think he was here to take any action.”

She stayed silent for a minute, staring off into space and twisting her fingers. She obviously cared about Mariah, and she was worried about her safety. I was too, so I understood how she felt. We were trapped in limbo right now, waiting for Trick to make his move. Because I hadn’t known him in years, I wasn’t sure what kind of move he’d make. I could only guess. It was hard to make a decent plan around a guess.

Trick didn’t show up to the library while I was there. I wasn’t sure if it was strategic to put us at ease or if he was avoiding me, but it didn’t matter. Mariah had an incident-free work day and was smiling as she and her coworker locked up for the night. I was going to shadow her back to her parents’ place before meeting Reaper for another night of searching for Trick when I got a call from Knox.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

I frowned. I wasn’t late yet. I told Reaper I was bringing Mariah home first.

“The library. Why?”

“Bring your girl to the clubhouse. Prez wants her seen with the crew. He thinks it’ll make the Iron Horsemen more interested in her.”

“She hasn’t agreed to the plan yet,” I growled, turning away so Mariah didn’t overhear the conversation.

“Tough shit. Clubhouse. Now. Unless you want Prez picking her up himself.”

The threat was there. If Croy had to do it, he wouldn’t be nice about it. If it wouldn’t make me look like a coward, I’d get Riley involved. Or Lacey. Neither of them would be okay with what Croy was doing. I knew he was eager to lure the bastards in, but using her like that without her consent was fucked up.

“Chase!” Knox snapped, grabbing my attention again.

“I heard you,” I hissed back. “We’re on our way.”

Once we got there, I’d take it up with Croy face-to-face. Enough was enough. I was the one who screwed up. It shouldn’t be Mariah who deals with the fallout.

I hung up the phone, slid it back in my pocket, and headed for Mariah’s car. She unrolled the window when I leaned against the frame, frowning up at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come back to the clubhouse with me for a minute. Prez wants to discuss something, and I don’t want you and your family alone without protection. We can head back there once I’m through.”

“Okay…” she replied, dragging the word out. She was suspicious, but I wasn’t going to piss her off by telling her Croy was making demands. If I convinced him to let her go home, it wouldn’t be a lie.

I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Trick on the drive back to the clubhouse. Mariah led the way, since if he pulled up in front of her, she could ram him and call it an accident. At every stop light, my head was on a swivel. Mariah was just as cautious. She eased through every stoplight like she was prepared for someone to come out of nowhere and attack her. I liked her being prepared, but I hated her being scared at the same time. This needed to end sooner rather than later.

We pulled up in front of the clubhouse, which was a full house tonight. That surprised me a little. The crew had been a little subdued since Nevada’s passing. Apparently, they were ready to get back to the swing of things.

Or they were making a statement that Trick’s crew couldn’t keep us down. People didn’t tell me shit anymore, so I had no clue what was going on.

Mariah waited for me before heading inside. That stupid bubble of hope expanded just a little when she took my hand, but I ignored it, lifting my chin to face down my crew. The tension and the blame were still there. It’d probably be a long time before they treated me like they used to. Not that I blamed them. If I were on the other end of it, I wouldn’t be forgiving either. Not after what happened to Nevada.

We came inside together and I barely had time to take in my surroundings before I was stopped by Clink, who jerked his chin at Mariah.

“Say goodbye. We got places to be.”

Oh, hell no. I was not leaving her in the middle of a club party by herself. I swung around with a snarl, coming up short when Croy appeared behind him.

“That wasn’t a fuckin’ request. Get your ass outside. Now.”

“I’m okay,” Mariah reassured me, squeezing my hand gently. “If I get overwhelmed, I’ll just wait for you in your room.”

None of the officers seemed to have a problem with that, so I pulled the key to my room off the ring and handed it off to her, jerking my chin toward the corner. “Stay with Bear or go upstairs. I’ll be back when I can.”

I couldn’t even watch her go before Clink had a fistful of my cut and was dragging me outside. I threw him off and glared at him the second the door slammed shut behind us.

“What the hell, man?”

“Shut the fuck up, Chase,” Croy snarled. “You’re lucky we were nice enough to bring her here before this meeting. I’m not splitting up my crew to watch over someone who ain’t part of our life while we’re meeting with the Iron Horsemen. Keep testing me and I’ll send her home with a fuckin’ map to her location posted on every telephone pole.”

Well, fuck. I hadn’t been expecting that. They headed for their bikes without a backward glance, leaving me to play catch up. I jogged to join them, frowning as I climbed onto my bike. “Why am I going with? I thought you all hated me.”

“We do,” Clink said with a bland look. “But your bullshit is what started this whole thing. You’re gonna see it through. Unless we gotta clean up your messes for you?”

It wasn’t what I thought would happen. I was convinced they’d keep me out of it since Croy didn’t want me dying and wasting Nevada’s sacrifice. But I sure as hell wasn’t going to refuse. Even though I didn't like leaving Mariah alone, I could admit that her being surrounded by the crew was a hell of a lot safer than on her own, with just her mom and sister to protect her. I straightened and firmed up my resolve. “No. I can handle it.”

Brewer huffed something resembling a condescending laugh. “Right. Let’s get moving.”