Page 72 of Blood of Vengeance

He froze, looking me over from head to toe as if just now seeing me. “You okay?”

I shrugged, definitely not okay but too damn mad to admit it. “Fine.”

He stared at me for a long, quiet moment before approaching slowly. Grabbing me by the upper arms and pulling me closer to him in a slow, calculated movement. As if I were a wild animal he hoped to tame.

“We okay?”

I stayed silent, unable to answer him. My anger growing deeper and brighter within me. Flinch finally sighed and, with his eyes locked on mine, murmured, “Zella, can you leave us alone for a second?”

“Absolutely.” My best friend stepped into the kitchen, leaving me with Flinch in the living room.

“Tell me,” he said once he had me alone.

“I could say the same to you.”

He jerked back, brow furrowed and confusion clear on his face. “This is about the club business?”

I wanted to answer, I really did. But I was mad and couldn’t let it go, so I stood in silence. After a while, Flinch growled, his hold on me growing tighter. His pull stronger. He yanked me right against his chest and leaned down to be able to speak directly into my ear in a soft, quiet voice.

“The brothers found Chiggy’s truck. It’s at some sort of compound and not abandoned, which means whoever moved it likely has a connection to the property.” His hold on me tightened, my instinctual desire to step away from him thwarted. “Rush and I are needed to start surveillance on the area so we know what we’re up against. We’re hunting your dad’s killer, Locklyn.”

All anger flowed out of my body, quickly being replaced by a rush of fear. “Please be careful.”

“I will. But I’ll also avenge your dad’s death. That’s a fucking given.” He dropped a huge kiss on me, tangling our tongues and groaning as he grabbed my ass. “For fuck’s sake, just stay home so I know you’re safe. Got it?”

I nodded, squeezing his arms before pushing him away. “Go. I’ll stay here.”

He grunted one last time then headed out the door, yelling something to the two bikers at the bottom of the porch that sounded an awful lot like a threat. Zella joined me at the window, both of us watching Flinch and Rush peel out onto the road with their engines roaring.

“You okay?” Zella asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and tugging me closer.

I was about to say yes, but I couldn’t. The lie wouldn’t come, so I answered with a question. One I was terrified to know the answer to. “What if they get to him like they did my dad?”

Zella sighed and shut the curtains on the window, sealing us inside. “I don’t know, Locklyn. I really don’t know.”

Twenty-Three

Flinch

I hated leaving Locklyn at home, but finding Chiggy’s killer had to take priority. Her dad needed to be avenged, and my brothers were the ones craving that justice.

“Where?” I asked the second I walked into the conference room at the clubhouse. Cutter stood in the back of the room looking over a map spread out on the table. Someone had printed photographs as well—aerial shots that likely had been taken by a drone. The pictures showed a dirt lot with a shabby building at one corner. Chiggy’s truck—those damned longhorns clear as fucking day on the front—sat in the lee of the building. Hidden from what I had to imagine was the road leading to the property.

There was no hiding from the Hellions.

“Truck’s on a dirt patch of property out past the north highway spur. Diesel got aerial shots of the land and access points.”

I moved in beside Cutter, looking over the map and the pictures. Building the full image of the place in my head. “We coming in hot?”

Meaning were we riding up plain as day, engines roaring and guns blazing. Always an option, though rarely the smartest move. Not in this day and age. Humans had gotten camera crazy.

“No,” Cutter said with a shake of his head. “There’s cover in the hills behind the spot. I say we come in from the north and stake out the place a bit. Make sure we know what we’re walking into. The last thing we need is a nest of vamps scattering like fucking roaches into the night.”

Diesel grunted his approval and pointed to a spot on the map. “I can get the drone up from that vantage point. Fly it high enough so the bastards won’t hear it and get a live feed.”

“Live and vampires don’t really go together,” Rush said as he came striding in.

“Feed and vampires do, though,” said Cutter, giving the potential new executive a once-over. “Everything good at Flinch’s?”

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