Page 19 of August's Ride with Arrow

“What I really like is knowing you're on our side. Let's go upstairs and rest for a little bit. You've had an eventful day after everything that happened earlier. Besides, I just want to hold you in my arms and enjoy being with you.”

“Don't forget about the meeting later,” Atlas says as we head out.

Once we are upstairs and in our room, I lie down on the bed and pull her to my side. She curls right into me, and we lie there for a few minutes soaking each other in. This is how I want to come home every day. To her. I know that without a shadow of doubt, but I don't want to scare her off by moving too quickly.

Just as I'm about to ask her how the rest of her day was, I feel her body relax and her breathing even out. I lie there quietly until I know she’s fast asleep, and then carefully slip out of bed.

While I hate to leave her, I really want to go downstairs and see how Bear is doing with Shooter and what information he might be getting. I make my way down to the room where we generally hold and question people. This is Bear's domain. It's pretty basic, with concrete floors and walls that make it very easy to clean up, and cabinets that hold his torture tools.

Bear has Shooter strapped to a chair, and there's already blood pouring down the side of his face. It's soaking through his shirt that is ripped along the side.

“He give you anything good yet?” I ask, and Bear shakes his head.

Leaning against the wall by the door, I let Bear do his thing as he picks up a tool that looks like it could be a pair of gardening pruning shears.

“I'm going to ask you again. Does Savage Bones have anyone else planted in this club?” Bear asks.

When Shooter doesn't say anything, Bear picks up one of Shooter's fingers and lines it up between the two blades.

“No! No, it was just me, I swear!” Shooter starts panicking.

Bear doesn’t move, just leaves the blades and Shooter’s finger where they are and asks his next question. “Where is the Savage Bones President?”

“I don't know. I swear only the officers have ever interacted with him,” Shooter says.

Bear looks over at me. “How do you build an entire club following the orders of a president that only a handful of guys have ever met?”

“Why is he so hell-bent on taking over Mustang Mountain when someplace like Whitefish has more resources?” Bear asks.

“I don't know,” Shooter says, and Bear doesn't give him a second chance. He just squeezes the plates together, and Shooter’s finger falls to the floor. His scream fills the air.

I stand there as Bear goes through multiple questions, all of which Shooter says he doesn't know the answer. He is pretty clueless for a guy they trusted to go undercover. I watch as Bear tortures him over and over from carving designs into his chest, cutting off fingers and toes, and even scooping out one of his eyes. Nothing seems to get us any more answers.

Eventually, Shooter has lost enough blood that he passes out. Bear goes over and puts him out of his misery by slicing his neck.

“So other than the fact that he was the only spy, we really didn't get any good information out of him,” I say, thinking it’s over. Bear picks up a huge knife and comes back over to Shooter. “What are you doing?” I ask, but Bear just smiles at me.

“Atlas wants to make sure that a very clear message is sent. What better way than to deliver his head in a cooler to the Savage Bones, just like their treasurer.”

“Have fun with that,” I say, smirking. Then I go upstairs to check on my Katherine. It's been a long day, but I know we're one step closer to getting all of this under control now that we have backup and help. We can wrap this up soon.

CHAPTER 10

KATHERINE

I open my eyes when I feel the bed move and find Arrow crawling back into the bed with me.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep on you. How long have I been out?” I ask, as Arrow lies down, pulling me into his arms.

“A couple of hours. I figured you needed sleep, so I went downstairs to check on how everything was going,” he says.

I sense something is wrong. So, wrapping my arms around him, I snuggle into him, saying without words that I'm here for him.

“With the guys from Whiskey River showing up, I can take you back home to Denver. If you want to go, now would be a good time. Everything is quiet. That way, I can make sure you get there safely,” he says, his voice guarded.

My heart sinks. How did I screw this up already? I thought going to him with what I had heard about Shooter was the right thing to do.

“What made you change your mind about us?” I ask as I try to pull away from him. He tightens his arm around me, and doesn't let me move.

---