Page 72 of Devil's Vengeance

“I’m not going to pretend I know how that asshole’s mind works.” She gave me a flat look, so I followed up with, “But if it were me, I wouldn’t risk it. Too many witnesses. Even if the library was having a quiet day, there are schools surrounding it and the cops are just down the block. It’d be hard to slip away unnoticed. Showing up yesterday was a threat, but I don’t think he was here to take any action.”

She stayed silent for a minute, staring off into space and twisting her fingers. She obviously cared about Mariah, and she was worried about her safety. I was too, so I understood how she felt. We were trapped in limbo right now, waiting for Trick to make his move. Because I hadn’t known him in years, I wasn’t sure what kind of move he’d make. I could only guess. It was hard to make a decent plan around a guess.

Trick didn’t show up to the library while I was there. I wasn’t sure if it was strategic to put us at ease or if he was avoiding me, but it didn’t matter. Mariah had an incident-free work day and was smiling as she and her coworker locked up for the night. I was going to shadow her back to herparents’ place before meeting Reaper for another night of searching for Trick when I got a call from Knox.

“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

I frowned. I wasn’t late yet. I told Reaper I was bringing Mariah home first.

“The library. Why?”

“Bring your girl to the clubhouse. Prez wants her seen with the crew. He thinks it’ll make the Iron Horsemen more interested in her.”

“She hasn’t agreed to the plan yet,” I growled, turning away so Mariah didn’t overhear the conversation.

“Tough shit. Clubhouse. Now. Unless you want Prez picking her up himself.”

The threat was there. If Croy had to do it, he wouldn’t be nice about it. If it wouldn’t make me look like a coward, I’d get Riley involved. Or Lacey. Neither of them would be okay with what Croy was doing. I knew he was eager to lure the bastards in, but using her like that without her consent was fucked up.

“Chase!” Knox snapped, grabbing my attention again.

“I heard you,” I hissed back. “We’re on our way.”

Once we got there, I’d take it up with Croy face-to-face. Enough was enough. I was the one who screwed up. It shouldn’t be Mariah who deals with the fallout.

I hung up the phone, slid it back in my pocket, and headed for Mariah’s car. She unrolled the window when I leaned against the frame, frowning up at me.

“What’s wrong?”

“Come back to the clubhouse with me for a minute. Prez wants to discuss something, and I don’t want you and your family alone without protection. We can head back there once I’m through.”

“Okay…” she replied, dragging the word out. She was suspicious, but I wasn’t going to piss her off by telling her Croy was making demands. If I convinced him to let her go home, it wouldn’t be a lie.

I kept my eyes peeled for any sign of Trick on the drive back to the clubhouse. Mariah led the way, since if he pulled up in front of her, shecould ram him and call it an accident. At every stop light, my head was on a swivel. Mariah was just as cautious. She eased through every stoplight like she was prepared for someone to come out of nowhere and attack her. I liked her being prepared, but I hated her being scared at the same time. This needed to end sooner rather than later.

We pulled up in front of the clubhouse, which was a full house tonight. That surprised me a little. The crew had been a little subdued since Nevada’s passing. Apparently, they were ready to get back to the swing of things.

Or they were making a statement that Trick’s crew couldn’t keep us down. People didn’t tell me shit anymore, so I had no clue what was going on.

Mariah waited for me before heading inside. That stupid bubble of hope expanded just a little when she took my hand, but I ignored it, lifting my chin to face down my crew. The tension and the blame were still there. It’d probably be a long time before they treated me like they used to. Not that I blamed them. If I were on the other end of it, I wouldn’t be forgiving either. Not after what happened to Nevada.

We came inside together and I barely had time to take in my surroundings before I was stopped by Clink, who jerked his chin at Mariah.

“Say goodbye. We got places to be.”

Oh, hell no. I was not leaving her in the middle of a club party by herself. I swung around with a snarl, coming up short when Croy appeared behind him.

“That wasn’t a fuckin’ request. Get your ass outside. Now.”

“I’m okay,” Mariah reassured me, squeezing my hand gently. “If I get overwhelmed, I’ll just wait for you in your room.”

None of the officers seemed to have a problem with that, so I pulled the key to my room off the ring and handed it off to her, jerking my chin toward the corner. “Stay with Bear or go upstairs. I’ll be back when I can.”

I couldn’t even watch her go before Clink had a fistful of my cut and was dragging me outside. I threw him off and glared at him the second the door slammed shut behind us.

“What the hell, man?”

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