Page 20 of Wrath

“Ain’t no one here close to havin’ the skill Ruckus has,” I remind him.“No one except you.” I stare back at our president.

“Wrath, I’m your trainer. How am I supposed to coach you while you're tryin’ to batter me?” I look past his shoulders when the quirky, little doctor who helped us out last week comes through the arch and steps up behind him.

“Quinn, what's up?” Raze gets on his feet, and dusts his hands off on the back of his jeans, and when I notice how serious she’s looking, I climb out the pool pit and stand right beside him.

“You get your lab results back?” I start unbinding my knuckles.

“I did, but that's not why I’m here.” The concern she’s wearing on her face don’t suit her and I can see it has Raze on edge, just as much as me.

“Do you have somewhere more private we can talk?” Her eyes roam around the yard suspiciously.

“Sure.” Raze creases his forehead before he starts leading her toward the clubhouse door and when he gestures his head for me to follow, I quickly go after him.

“Wrath here’s my VP, ain’t nothin’ you can say to me that he can’t hear.” Raze closes the door to his office once all three of us are inside.

“Okay.” She glances me over as if she doubts what Raze tells her, then takes a seat.

“So, if you ain’t here about the results, why are ya here?” Raze gets things started while I rest my shoulder against the filing cabinet and he takes his seat behind the desk.

“I had a body brought into the morgue last night — a female, around the same age as the girl you found on the beach,” she explains, dropping her eyes onto her lap. “She had the same kinda markings on her body, she’d been raped, and her cause of death was a stab wound to the liver.”

“Fuck.” Raze slides his hand through his hair as he stands up and paces the floor.

“I hate to say it, but it’s starting to look like Long Beach has a serial killer.” Quinn folds her arms over her chest and looks up at us as if we have the solution.

“What are the police sayin’?” I check.

“Well, that's another problem. The police have no idea about the first victim, so right now, this is being treated as a homicide.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head, it has me wondering if she regrets helping us with the dead girl on the beach.

“That’s okay, the other body wasn’t linked to the club, the cops can do their thing and–”

“This body was found two blocks from here, stuffed in a dumpster outside a closed-down bar that this club used to own,” she interrupts me.

“Spoofs.” Raze looks across at me and his expression turns me cold. “We didn’tusedto own it, we still do,” he informs her. “I’ve been plannin’ to get that place refurbished and opened up by next summer.”

“Well, currently, it’s a murder scene and once the cops figure out you still own the building, they’re gonna want to speak to you.” Quinn grits her teeth.

“What the fuck is happenin’?” I shake my head when it starts to sink in just how fuckin’ bad all this is.

“Raze, I know your club is built on loyalty, but you might have to start questioning some of your members.” Quinn’s words make his eyes stretch wide and I can’t decide if it’s out of anger or fear.

“None of my guys would do this. Club’s number one rule is no women or no kids get harmed.” He shakes his head firmly.

“That wasn’t Cliff’s rule,” I point out. “C’mon, Raze, you gotta see that this is him, he’s fuckin’ with us.”

“Not even he’s that stupid.” Raze must be in some kinda denial because the way I see it, it’s as plain as fuckin’ day.

“You know how ballsy he can be. This is him.” I kick the filing cabinet, in frustration.

“The girl wasn’t drugged.” Quinn blurts out, and I can tell from the sadness on her face that she’s disturbed by that. “She would have felt everything that was done to her before she wasdumped on your beach. I’m expecting the results from this new girl to come back the same. Raze, I told you that whoever was doing this is a sadist, and we need to get them off our streets.” There’s a tremble in her voice as she stands up and when Raze nods his agreement, she turns her back on us and walks out the door. Both of us stand in silence as we’re forced to accept how serious all this is.

“Raze.” I break that silence when I think about Willow, and how the next body that gets found could be hers. Hell, she could even be the girl with the Jane Doe tag on her toe.

“Don’t ask me what I’m thinkin’, Wrath.” He shakes his head as all the frustration inside him reaches its limit.

“It’s gotta be Cliff,” I tell him again. He may not wanna believe it but he has to start facing reality.

“I need ya to watch the club and keep Peyton and Eden safe. Don’t panic ‘em but if they need to go anywhere, they gotta have company. Only you, Ruck, and Sasquatch are cleared to be that company, d’ya understand?”

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