“Damn it, Shaft! Open up!” Keys yells again. It’s the last thing I want to do, but it has to be urgent for him to hunt me down here. I lean down and kiss Bree, regretfully.
“Stay here, I’ll be back,” I tell her before grabbing a pair of sweats off the bedroom floor and making my way to the front door while cinching them up. “This better be damned important,” I growl, opening the door.
“Thank fuck. I was about to give up,” Keys mutters. He’s a tall lanky kid. We patched in together, but he’s closer to Bree’s age than mine at twenty-five. He has blonde hair, cut short and honestly if he didn’t wear a Devil’s Blaze cut, and have the tattoo’s he’d look like he belonged in a business suit.
“Well, make it quick. I got shit to do.” Like Bree. Fuck, waiting—that ship has sailed.
“We got problems, man. Skull asked me to get you because you weren’t answering your cell,” he says, and I rub the back of my neck. Shit, I don’t remember what I’ve done with my phone. I think it’s in my Blaze cut still and that’s probably on the floor buried under clothes in the bedroom. Skull would have my ass for treating my cut like that.
“The battery died,” I lie, though chances are it has now since I didn’t charge it last night.
“You can explain that to the Pres. We need to get back. He wants us with Beast and the others. We’re rolling out to the Saints. It’s bad brother. It’s bad.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“The boys who went on the run last night with Tuck’s club? Man, they rode straight into hell. They were ambushed outside of old county road 329.”
“You’re fucking kidding me? It was a simple damned run!”
“It was supposed to be. They were just picking up that load of—”
“I know what they were picking up,” I growl, stopping him from saying it. I don’t want Bree to hear it. That’s club business and she don’t need to hear that.
“Yeah well... There was a fucking shoot out.”
“Shoot out? Who shot at them?”
“We don’t have any answers, that’s why Skull wants to ride out there. Hell, they may already be gone instead of waiting on us.”
“I don’t understand. Briar and Sabre haven’t said anything?”
“Briar was taken to St. Lutheran, man. He’s shot up pretty bad. It doesn’t look good.”
“Motherfucker!” I yell out. Sabre and Briar are probably my closest brothers besides Keys. The thought of them being hurt and injured and me not there to help them when they needed it, kills me. They’re tough fuckers. I never thought of either one of them taking a bullet. “And Sabre?” I ask, frozen and unable to move to get dressed until I hear.
“He’s missing. That’s all we know. Tucker called Skull and they’re meeting. I don’t know man, we got to get going.”
“I’ll be right out. Just going to get dressed. Call Skull and tell him we’ll meet him on road 899.”
“Jax?” I stop when I see Bree standing at the beginning of the hallway. “What’s wrong?”
“I thought I told you to stay in the bedroom.”
“I heard you yelling and my grandfather’s name,” she says concern on her face.
“Her grandfather? Jesus, Shaft. Dude have you lost your mind?” Keys says coming up behind us. I turn to him, mostly to tell him to mind his own business when I see him staring at Bree. She’s wearing my shirt and it swallows her. It’s a T-shirt, and the short sleeves actually fall closer to her elbows. But, Bree is taller than the average girl, and the hemline falls just below her ass cheeks—giving too good of a view of her legs and thighs. I cross in front of her, blocking her from his sight.
“Keep your eyes to yourself. Fucking bastard,” I growl, pushing his shoulder, and knocking him back a good foot, maybe more.
“I’m a bastard? You’re sticking it to Skull’s niece! Have you got a fucking death wish? Old man Tucker finds out, hell, Skull finds out, they’ll take turns cutting the skin off your body—and you’ll be breathing while they do it.”
“You can’t tell them!” Bree cries, moving around me. “Please. You can’t get Jax into trouble.”
“Jax? Fuck. Don’t worry girl, I won’t rat out my brother. Speaking of which, we better go, or Skull may venture out here to find you himself.”
“I’ll be right back,” I mumble, pulling Bree back into the bedroom. I close the door when we’re inside and go straight to find my jeans.