Mason:Inked Reapers MC(43)

"You don't know that." I shook my head. Tears built in my eyes, not for  his life, but for what changed in mine from the moment I pulled that  trigger.



"I've known these clubs my whole life," she said quietly. "I promise you that's what he would have done."



"What do we do now?" I looked back over at his lifeless body.



"First we check his phone, see if he made any calls yet. Odds are he was  creeping up the hill toward the cottage to see if we were there. He  probably didn't make it all the way up before he heard us over here. If  that's the case, we might be okay to stay put."



"If that's not the case?" I wasn't sure I wanted the answer to that.



"His bike is probably down the road. He wouldn't have chanced coming up  close with it and us hearing it. We take it, head back toward home on  the back roads."



"Should we call the guys?" I asked, following her back toward the cottage. "What about him? We can't just leave him there."



She stopped, looking back at the corpse of our enemy. "Just grab his  phone. Tick will know what to do with the body." She covered her mouth  with her hand and jogged the rest of the way to the cottage. Morning  sickness in the middle of the afternoon.



I walked back over to Sting's body, taking cautious steps. Too many  horror movies muddied up my mind as I knelt next to him, digging in his  jean pocket. I took one look at his face, then decided it better to keep  my eyes where my hands were. Finally finding his phone in his back  pocket, I yanked it free of his jeans. Fuck, he was heavy. His hand  moved from the jostling and I squealed. Cursing myself a fool, I  scrambled away from him before I swiped his phone open to get a look at  his messages.



When I made it back to the cottage Massy was in the bedroom. Her head  tucked between her legs she took in deep breaths. I ran over to her.  "Are you okay?"



"Yeah." She waved a hand in the air. "Just a little woozy from puking."  Tilting her head back, I could make out red lines crossing her cheeks  and eyes. She'd thrown up so hard she popped blood vessels.



"His phone was clear. I mean he didn't make any calls or send any texts  within the last hour or so. Nothing to Marcus or Jayson about us, but I  didn't understand what he was up to. Why is Marcus giving Jayson any  information about me? I thought they hated each other."



"They do, but better the enemy you know." She sat up straight and let  out a slow breath. "I think Marcus just wants to use you as bait to get  Mason to stick around the club long enough to help Lucas take out  Jayson. He gives you to Jayson, distracts him, then helps Lucas sweep in  and take over."

"What about those Mexican people?" My decision to stay the hell away from club business had been a good one, too much drama.



"Bernardo's dead. I heard Tick and Mason talking the other morning. His  brother took over down there, and is coming up here to get the Disciples  and Reapers to merge, or kill one off, doesn't matter to him. He just  wants one club to deal with, Tick said. Whoever survives the next few  days wins." She rolled her eyes. "When Tick told me about leaving the  club, getting away from all the MC shit, at first I wasn't sure. It's  the only life I've ever known. They are like my family. But you know,  settling down in a normal house, in a normal town, with a normal  husband, sounds fucking great right now."





CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN



MASON





Marcus didn't leave his apartment all night. No one went in, and no one  came out. Even while the members partied it up in the lounge, he never  showed his face. If he had some big plan on how to accomplish his little  task, he wasn't sharing it with the rest of us.                       
       
           



       



A little after dawn, I headed back to my room, fully expecting to see  Tick's ass snoring away. I didn't expect to find him pacing up and down  my room, wearing out the carpet.



"What's crawled up your ass?" I asked, shutting the door. Moans from the  next room over came through the walls. Remembering the last time I had  my hands on Lucy came to mind. Only a few days past, but still too  fucking many. "What's wrong?" I said again with more grit. I was fucking  tired from staring at Marcus's door all night, and I wasn't in the mood  for more cryptic shit. Not even from Tick.



"Massy called." He stopped pacing and glared at me. Not his usual ugly  mug. No, he looked ready to rip someone to shreds. "There was trouble up  at the cottage yesterday. The girls are headed back this way. Should be  here within a few hours."



"What?" I dug out my phone. Nothing. "Lucy didn't call me."



"She was too busy trying to bury Sting!" he practically yelled.



I wiped my hands over my eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about? Start at the beginning, dammit."



"Massy was showing Lucy how to handle a gun-"



"Wait. What?" I had to be hearing shit.



"You heard me, don't get sidetracked on that, just fucking listen. She  took her into the woods for target practice. On the first shot, she  bagged herself a Disciple." The fucker almost sounded proud.



"I swear to god, Tick. I'm ready to rip your fucking head off, what do you mean?"



"Sting was there, found them. When she took her shot, she missed the  tree but nailed him right in the stomach. Bled out under a pine tree."



I sat down. I needed to sit. Lucy shot someone? Picturing her with a gun  in her hand put a twist in my stomach. "She killed him?"

"Yeah. Before he croaked, he said Marcus let Jayson know where the girls  were. Said Marcus knew she didn't have family down south."



I raised my brows at him and he waved me off. "I know. I forgot Marcus's known her longer than I have. Of course he would know."



"What the fuck is he playing at? If he wants Lucas to take over for  Jayson, why give up Lucy? What does she have to do with anything?"



"I figure she's his way of controlling you. If Jayson has Lucy, you'd  have to help Marcus get Lucas in the chair, and Marcus would help you  get Lucy back."



"He's insane. I already said I'd help."



"I don't know. All I know is that fuck sent a lunatic after my wife. If  Lucy hadn't asked Massy to show her how to shoot, they would have just  been in the cottage painting their nails." He ran his hand over his  smooth head, back and forth, back and forth, letting loose a deep growl.  I knew what he was feeling. Pent up.



"They are on the road?"



"Should be. I talked with Massy a little bit ago. They found his bike down the road, she's gonna drive them back."



"How long has it been since Massy's handled a bike?" I asked, knowing there wasn't much choice.



"I let her ride my bike now and then." He looked away from me.



"When you're drunk," I scoffed.



"Yeah, well, we don't live five steps from the bar like you," he shot at  me. "She rode last week. Did fine. They'll be fine." He sat on the bed,  holding his head with both hands. Someone so confident shouldn't look  so scared.



"Yeah, they'll be fine. Did you say Lucy asked to learn how to shoot?"



He looked up at me and laughed. "Yeah. Massy said she tried talking her  out of it, but she kept on about it. Guess your little girl is all grown  up."



"Don't talk like that, that's gross." I screwed up my face. Little girl.  That woman was many things to me, but little girl wasn't one of them.  Every inch of her attested to her womanhood.



"Gross?" He laughed. "What about Marcus?"



"Nothing. No one in or out all night. If we have a few hours, I need to  catch a few minutes of sleep. Get out." I shoved him off the bed and  jumped on, kicking off my boots.



"I told Massy to meet me at home-"

"No. Jayson could have someone there. I'll tell Lucy to meet at our  usual spot." Typing a few directions to her to go along with the change  of meet up, I tucked the phone back in my back pocket. "Now go. Give me  an hour."



"How we gonna get out of here? Marcus locked down the place."

"The women and kids are locked, you asshat." I turned over, giving him my back. "We'll be fine. One hour."                       
       
           



       



I heard the door click behind him and closed my eyes. Just a minute of sleep.





CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT



LUCY





If I thought my ass hurt after the little bit of spanking Mason had  given me the last time I'd seen him, it was only because I hadn't ridden  on the back of a motorcycle down back roads and dirt roads for five  hours with Massy at the bars. By the time Massy circled round back of  the diner and headed for the garage, I was ready to jump of the  mechanical horse, parked or not.