Ride Wild(28)

His gaze scanned over her bare shoulders and dragged down over the tank  top and boxers she wore. Her body lit up in the wake of his perusal.  "Night," he said.

She watched him disappear into the dimness of his son's room. And wished  that when he was done, he'd join her in bed. Or, at the very least,  that he wanted to.

Because he hadn't lost a loving wife after all. Or even a faithful one.  And that made Cora wonder exactly how long it'd been since somebody had  truly, deeply, and unconditionally loved Slider Evans.

The way that she was suddenly, irrevocably, and completely sure that she did.





Chapter 14




Just got out of court. News isn't good. Emergency meeting of Church tonight, 8PM.



Slider had received Dare's text before lunchtime, and it'd been eating  at his gut ever since. News isn't good. That could only mean that Jagger  hadn't been set free.

Sonofabitch.

From what Slider understood, the guys on the Ravens' board-Dare,  Maverick, Phoenix, and Caine-had been all over investigating Jagger's  situation ever since he'd been arrested. Though the club had one close  friend in the local sheriff's department, it also had at least one  staunch enemy, so the Ravens weren't leaving it to the cops to be a  force for justice when it came to the freedom of one of their brothers.                       
       
           



       

It just didn't make sense that Jagger hadn't been released. Their club's  friend, Sheriff Henry Martin, knew as well as they did that the Ravens  hadn't dumped the oil and tires that'd landed Jagger, as manager of the  racetrack, in jail. Not only was Jagger legit brilliant and devoted to  the Ravens' main business venture, the guy had been preparing for the  track's annual licensing inspection, so no way would he have jeopardized  that by illegally dumping where the inspector would see.

If that wasn't proof enough, Alexa's ex, Grant Slater had told her that  he'd do whatever it took to force her to come back to him, even though  he knew she was with Maverick. Before his death, Slater had been  Frederick's biggest real estate developer, and he'd had the mayor and at  least one of the sheriffs so far up his ass it was almost laughable.  Add to that Slater's years-old grudge against the club, both because  Alexa had dated Maverick years before and because Slater wanted the  club's land, and two plus two equaled fucking four.

Jagger was innocent. And justice wasn't being served.

Which was why Slider was attending Church for the first time in a long  damn time. And why, even though he was midshift and therefore driving  the tow truck, he was doing it wearing his cut.

It was time he stood with his brothers again.

At the clubhouse, he parked the truck at the end of a row of Harleys,  proof that a number of guys had beat him there. He'd been a member of  the Ravens for sixteen years, so walking up the steps and crossing the  wide front porch of the old two-story inn should've felt like coming  home. But since he'd been lost for so fucking long, he was still  figuring out what, where, and who home exactly was.

Which, of course, had him thinking about Cora.

The only person who now knew the secret he'd kept for so damn long.

He hadn't been able to hold it in for one more second. Not after nearly  taking her head off for doing something he'd planned to do anyway, and  not when the bleak look of hurt on her beautiful face had nearly gutted  him. It was just that seeing Kim's things on display in the living room  had been a sucker punch. He hadn't been ready for it. And it'd hurt like  hell. So Slider had lashed out.

But Cora hadn't deserved it. Not one bit.

Coming clean had seemed like the only way to truly set things right,  even though a part of him worried that she'd think less of him. He  already had a hard time believing that she thought all that highly of  him to begin with.

Then again, she'd called him a hero . . .

He didn't believe it. Not for one fucking second.

Inside the clubhouse, Slider stepped into the main lobby. The old inn's  long reception desk remained, but otherwise, the room now resembled a  giant lounge with big brown leather couches. Framed pictures of club  members dominated one wall, and the Ravens' motto was carved into the  woodwork above the desk: Ride. Fight. Defend.

Exactly what Jagger needed from them now.

To the right sat the big mess hall and to the left, their bar and rec  room, but both of those rooms were quiet. Voices filtered from the back  of the clubhouse, though, from the direction of the big room they used  for Church-the club's official business meetings, open only to fully  patched members of the Raven Riders.

Slider tried to ignore the way those voices died down when he walked  into the room, where about twenty guys were already congregated. And  then the surprise ratcheted up even more when he chose a seat at the  table instead of one of those against the wall at the back of the room.

"Anyone sitting here?" he asked, grabbing a chair.

"Just you, my brother. Just you," Meat said, clasping his hand.

Feeling a little bit like a science experiment gone wrong, Slider sat his ass down.

And then his brothers included him in run-of-the-mill conversation that made the weirdness go away.

"Anything new at the shop?" Meat asked. Feeling like he was testing the  waters of their reaction to him, Slider detailed the same-shit,  different-day problems around Frederick Auto Body and Repair.

"How are the boys doing? Ben making out okay with his cast?" Bear asked, when Slider had answered Meat.

"You'd never know he had a broken bone," Slider said. "He's doing great. Both of them are."

Doc chuckled, his deep laugh part of the reason that he made a perfect  Santa at Christmastime. Well, that and the white beard and mustache. "If  we could bottle up the way kids bounce back from things-and their  energy-our old asses would be A-OK." Nods and laughter all around.

More brothers filtered in until there were nearly thirty men taking up  every seat in the joint. Proof of just how well respected Jagger was.                       
       
           



       

"Cora still liking her new ride?" Phoenix wanted to know as the newcomers got settled.

Slider did a bit of a double take at that one. When had Phoenix seen the Camry? "Yeah, she calls it her baby."

Phoenix grinned, which he'd always done easily and readily, even in the  worst of times. Slider admired that about the guy. "She looked good  behind the wheel."

Slider wasn't able to restrain an arched eyebrow or the come again? glare.

"I mean, you know, she looked happy," Phoenix said, apparently catching  the vibe Slider was throwing off even though he had no damn right to be  throwing it. For fuck's sake.

Thankfully, that was the moment Dare banged the gavel and called the  meeting to order. "Thanks for coming," Dare said, his gaze snagging on  Slider long enough to be an acknowledgment. "Got some news I wanted to  share, and I wanted to do it in person."

Tension hung thick in the air, because Slider wasn't the only man who'd deduced enough about Jagger's fate to be unhappy.

"Jagger's hearing was today, and he was sentenced to four months. He's  been credited with time served, but that still means he has almost six  weeks to go." Dare's expression was a storm cloud of discontent, and his  voice was tight with righteous anger.

The room erupted with echoes of that same anger.

Dare held up a hand. "Phoenix has agreed to keep running things at the  track until Jagger's home again, so that's one problem solved."

"He's been doing a damn fine job, too," Maverick said. "Attendance is up  since the carnival we held back in June, and it's thanks to Phoenix's  efforts."

Even as the men nodded in agreement, Phoenix shook off the praise. "It's  what we do here. We step up for our brothers and for the club. I need  no special thanks for that." Of course, the comment had Slider feeling  shitty for the attitude he'd given the man before the meeting started.  Because he was right. Being a Raven meant stepping up when the chips  were down, and Slider hadn't done nearly enough of that these past two  years.

But that was changing. Or, at least, it would right now.

Slider cleared his throat. "It doesn't need to be said that I haven't  been around." He forced himself to look around the table and meet his  brothers' eyes, even though it was about as comfortable as eating  crushed glass. "But if there's anything I can do-either at the track or  in general-consider me available. And interested."

Another round of approving murmurs circled the room.

Phoenix nailed him with a surprised stare. "Actually, the grader, water  truck, and roller could all really use some maintenance. With doing  double duty, I haven't been able to give the track equipment the TLC it  deserves. Any chance you could come by before Friday's race to take care  of it? Jagger's gonna kick my ass if he gets out and sees I haven't  taken care of his babies."