Jake’s Angel (King’s Of Fury MC #2)

Chapter 3

CHAPTER THREE

JAKE

“Asshole is calling! Asshole is calling!” My phone screeches loudly from my pants, where they lie on the floor in my old bedroom. We got in late last night and I knew I’d have to be into the tattoo shop early to set up for my day. My parents’ place is closer to town. I knew Pop wasn’t there, so I spent the night at the house with Mom. She didn’t mind. She loves it when I crash there. Besides, she was up watching mindless tv alone anyway.

Game of Thrones .

Mom’s a huge fan of the series. I have to admit, hearing her get pissed off at some of the characters was the main reason I sat through a couple of episodes with her. At one point she went so far as to take her spoon out of her Rocky Road ice cream, point it at the television and say, “I’d gut that motherfucker starting from his cock to his throat for the evil shit he’s done to that girl.” The conviction in her voice led me to believe her.

My reply to her outburst wasn’t what she expected. “I think I understand how you managed to fall in love with and marry the club’s Enforcer. I have to tell you, it’s a little scary how alike the two of you think. But I don’t think Pop would let the guy off so easily” She didn’t miss a beat. In fact, she shocked the shit out of me with her response.

“You’re right. Your father would string him up naked, cut off one piece of his body each day, while leaving him to hang out in the freezing cold.He’d keep going until either the poor bastard bled out or froze to death. He wouldn’t make it as quick as I would. I prefer to get rid of my problems quickly. Your father, well, he likes to play with his prey. He gets off on watching the life drain from their eyes.”

The way she said it so nonchalantly left me speechless. She must’ve realized what she’d said was pretty messed up because she giggled, then winked at me, giving me her best what did I say smile. Like she didn’t know why my jaw dropped.Not that what she said wasn’t accurate, but it was still fucked-up.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know how she came to her conclusions. Women aren’t supposed to know about the horrific shit we sometimes have to deal with or how we deal with it. It’s club business.

I opted to stay in my old room instead of on the couch for the night. I have my own place out by the lake. Moved out when I was nineteen. Even so, Mom refuses to change my room, which is a good thing, though I wish she would get a bigger bed. I’m not exactly twin sized anymore.

Since Pop and Jayde are gone all the time and I don’t like the idea of Mom being alone so much, I spend whatever time I can here. Of course, she complains about my visits like it’s a hardship for her to share her space and her food, but we both know she’s full of shit.

I pick up my still ringing phone and answer, my voice still groggy from sleep.

“What do you want now, Dipshit?” I changed Hawk’s ringtone after my little mishap the other day, so I’d be sure not to confuse the sound with my alarm again.

“Pres is calling church. Told me to get the word out.”

“What’s going on?”

“Not sure, but whatever it is has the Pres on edge.”

“How soon?”

“He said one p.m.” It’s only ten thirty now. “We’ve got time to go grab a bite at Magpie’s if you’re hungry,” he offers.

“Yeah, all right. Let me get dressed. I can meet you there in twenty,” I tell him.

“Hey.” He stops me short of hanging up. Hawk asks, “Is Sadie there with you?”

I lay back on the bed, throwing an arm over my face. “I don’t make a habit of taking Sadie to bed with me, you sick fuck.”

“No, motherfucker. I mean, is she at your mom’s house?”

“No. Why?”

“Well, do you know where she is? Her phone shows she’s at the clubhouse with Loretta. Her car is there, but she’s not,” he says, sounding more pissed than concerned.

I let out a long sigh. “You seriously need to stop tracking her all the time, man. This shit’s getting to be an obsession.” Hawk has always been extremely protective of Sadie. Since she was just a little girl and he was old enough to fuck around on a computer, he’s had ways of keeping tabs on her. Of course, she always finds out and gets even with him for it. He says he’s just trying to watch over her because she tends to do stupid shit and get herself into trouble. An accurate account of her behavior, unfortunately, but I still think he’s doing it for his own personal reasons, and one day it’s going to bite him in the ass.

Shrugging to myself as I scrub one hand down my face, I let him know the only information I have. “Last time I saw her was when she rode out of the clubhouse parking lot with Jayde, flipping you the bird. Haven’t heard from her since. But that’s not unusual.”

“Yeah, but when have you ever known Sadie to be without her phone?” He asks. “To be without her car is rare, but it happens when she needs maintenance done. She never came to pick up the car when it was done. The guys at the shop tried to call her and found her phone ringing in the Challenger’s floorboard.”

That is odd.

“Fuck. I remember Mom saying Sadie was planning on staying with Jayde for the weekend. She was supposed to go back to Baron’s Edge to get her diploma and some other shit from Pop’s place there. Maybe she’s using Jayde’s phone for now,” I offer as a solution, but I know it’s bullshit. I can tell by his dramatic sigh; Hawk isn’t buying it either. “Or maybe she’s playing games on her computer, too busy to care about missing her phone.”

“Nope. I checked the live feed at Mack’s place in Baron’s Edge and her new place. She’s not been to either. Hasn’t been any movement recorded for several days,” he tells me. I roll my eyes because I know he’s serious. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t starting to wonder what she’s up to myself.

“Maybe she doesn’t want you to know what she’s doing,” I offer, thinking it’s a viable possibility. “Why are you looking for her? What’d she do now?”

“Mack’s been looking for her. Pres called me to locate her when she wouldn’t answer Mack’s calls. He wasn’t worried until I told them she never picked up her car and her phone was left behind.”

“Maybe she’s doing it on purpose to piss you both off. You know, she’s eighteen and out of high school now. You two can’t keep trying to control the girl.”

Sadie lives to drive Pop crazy and give him shit. Almost as much as she loves fucking with Hawk and their “who’s smarter with a computer” game that they’ve got going on.

“I wouldn’t put it past her to be fucking with you both for shits and giggles.”

“Maybe. If she wants me to redden her ass,” he says quietly, but not quiet enough because I heard him. I smile to myself.

“Why does Pres want her? She in trouble or something?” I ask, standing to put my clothes on.

“I don’t know the specifics, but something’s going on with Mack’s boss in Baron’s Edge and Pres said they want Sadie up here where we can keep an eye on her. In case shit isn’t as simple as they think it is.”

“The fuck does that even mean?” I toss my shirt over my head and slide on my cut. Once my boots are on, I’m headed for the kitchen to give Mom a kiss goodbye.

“I don’t know, brother. You know what I know. I was told to call the brothers to church and find out where Sadie is. Those are my orders,” he gripes.

We hang up and I try Jayde’s number.

“What?” she whines when she answers.

“Why are you still in bed? Get your lazy ass up,” I tease. I wouldn’t be a good big brother if I didn’t give her shit every once in a while.

“The fuck do you want, Jake? I was up late studying last night. Didn’t go to bed until almost four in the morning. I want to sleep.” I almost feel bad, knowing how hard the girl studies, but it’s a fleeting thought.

“Is Sadie with you? Pop’s looking for her, and she doesn’t have her phone on her.”

“No,” she’s quick to respond. She sounds wide awake now. “She, uh, borrowed Jinx’s truck to go pick up some stuff from Baron’s Edge. Said she was going to her place afterward. I haven’t seen her since I dropped her off to get the truck two days ago.”

None of what she just said makes any sense. Hawk said there was no movement at Pop’s place in Baron’s Edge or at Sadie’s place. If she was moving her shit, surely, she would be on one, if not both, cameras. Even if she deactivated them, Hawk or Pop should’ve been notified.

“Fuck.” I growl. “All right. Go back to sleep. I’ll find out what Sadie’s up to. Love you, brat.”

“Love you too, asshat.”

I hang up with Jayde and go in search of Mom. She’s sitting at the table in the kitchen, her coffee cup in hand and another one already waiting for me in front of the seat across from her. I take a sip and kiss her on the forehead in appreciation.

She’s got her long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail wrapped in a black bandanna. She’s wearing her club tank top with the Kings’ logo on the front and her property cut over it. Short, tight-fitting, and ripped at the edges, her shorts cover just enough of her legs and ass to be considered modest by club standards.

I can see her hand is trembling as she lifts her mug. Her blue eyes are weary, and red-rimmed from crying, but her pupils are normal. I brush my hand to her forehead. She reaches up to grab it, giving me a slight squeeze. No fever, and I don’t see any other signs of sickness. I watch her carefully as she wipes her eyes, straightening her shoulders.

“There’s trouble, isn’t there?” She asks.“Your father?” Is that why she’s crying? Is she worried about him? Worried he won’t come home? It wouldn’t be the first time he broke his word to come home, but Sadie wouldn’t care if he missed her graduation party. She’d probably prefer it.

“No trouble.” I squeeze her hand. She raises her brow at me and gives me the signature, don’t bullshit your mother face they all have. The corner of my mouth lifts in a smirk at her sassiness.

“You wouldn’t tell me.” Mom sighs and her eyes roll when she says, “I know. Club business and all the other boys' club bullshit.” I laugh at her exasperation.

“If you want to know, the call was about Sadie Jay.” I shake my head, hiding my smile behind the rim of the coffee mug.

As I suspected, her eyes widen, a long sigh of relief leaves her lips, then her shoulders start to shake. She tries to hide her laughter, dropping her head, but fails miserably.

“She’s up to her usual bullshit. She left her car at the clubhouse two days ago to get looked at and left her phone in the floorboard, so Hawk and Pop can’t keep tabs on her.” I raise my brows at Mom, who’s smiling over her coffee mug.

Mom’s eyebrows shoot up. “She didn’t want to be found,” she says, sipping her coffee, looking at me over the rim of her mug with a knowing smirk. “Let me guess. Hawk and your dad are losing their shit?”

“Not yet, but pretty fucking close.” I smile back.

“How is it still charged?”

I shrug. “She probably left it plugged into the consol. The guys have driven it a few times to and from the shop. Who knows?” I kiss her one last time. “I’m going to go find her and take her to get her car. Then I’ll go to church and find out what the hell is going on there. It’s probably nothing serious.” She squeezes my hand and lets go. “Love you Ma.”

She nods, says she loves me too, and I’m out the door.

I shoot off a text to Hawk, letting him know Sadie is driving Jinx’s truck. His reply comes quickly.

Dipshit: She’s at Magpie’s. Just pulled in.

Me: five minutes out.