Page 40 of Phantom Riders MC: Hawk

We’d strayed way the fuck off what we’d started out talking about. Aware that Audra was staring at me with eyes shooting rays of death, I picked up a piece of toast and took a large bite of it. I fucking hoped Fox found out what the connection was between her, her bastard ex, and Covacks fast so I could deal with shit and turn her loose.

“There’s a lot of shit that needs to be cleaned up from last night. See Snake and tell him to put you to work.”

I could see that she was still angry, yet she was doing a good job of controlling it. At least she wasn’t slapping me across the face. After a few seconds passed she jumped from her stool. I let her walk away, a slow grin covering my face. I looked up to see that I had Lynn’s attention. Realizing that she was staring, she jumped and went back to work.

I was still chewing the last of my bacon when I went out to the bar. I briefly took in the shit that was going on as I continued through to the entrance door. Snake had three prospects cleaning up the broken window glass beneath the windows, while club girls were picking it off the furniture. Glass had fucking sprayed everywhere.

Pushing my way through to the outside, I found Audra sweeping the walkway directly below the windows. She barely spared me a glance before pressing her pretty lips and glancing back at the glass she had piled up. I grinned, stepping away. My brothers were scattered around the lot, doing a thorough sweep for evidence. Gradually they began to walk my way, shaking their heads to show me that they hadn’t found anything.

“Do we know if they found anything last night?” Painter asked when he reached me.

“If they did I would have heard from the fucking sheriff,” I replied. Fuller crossed my mind. That bastard I didn’t fucking trust. I caught Fox’s attention and gave him a chin lift to let him know that I wanted to talk to him. “When you’re doing your research, contact Wild Marauders and Dark Menace to see if they’ve had any trouble with Blue Knights, or heard anything about Covacks’ son being murdered.” He gave a sharp nod and kept going.

I knew both MC’s, knew their presidents Lynch and Stone. We did business with their clubs, often had each other’s backs and I trusted them. We thought a lot like, ran our clubs similar, didn’t take shit from anyone. Sure, we did illegal shit sometimes, but we kept our clubs free of drugs and had legitimate businesses to keep the IRS happy. Recently Lynch and Stone had acquired old ladies. I wondered how that was working out for them.

My gaze shifted to Audra. Fuck, no, wasn’t gonna happen.

“Hey, boss.” I looked at Big John, and waited. “Got a call from Dolly.” She owned a strip club in town. “She said Blue Knights were at her place last night, around the same fuckin’ time that we were hit. She heard what went down and thought we should know.”

“She give any names?” I crossed my arms.

He nodded. “Said they were all there at one time or another, couldn’t be sure who the fuck was or wasn’t at the time of the shooting.”

“I still want their prez.” I saw a flash of something in the distance, and kept my gaze trained on it until it was close enough that I could determine that it was a car. A fucking long black limo, and I knew that we were about to get a visit from Covacks. That meant one fucking thing to me that whatever he had to talk about, he wanted to see my reaction when he told me.

Word was he was fucking good at reading people.

If he didn’t like what he saw you were fucking dead.

My brothers noticed the car approaching and moved to my side and behind me in a show that they had my back. Covacks’ had his own moves and when he exited the car he was instantly flanked by two huge bodyguards, both carrying shotguns. I had no doubt that they were probably armed with other weapons they’d make visible at the first sign of trouble.

“I hope you don’t mind this impromptu visit.” A row of even, white teeth followed his comment, looking more like a snarl that a smile. Sharp, assessing eyes took in everything at once. “I see you’re prepared for trouble.”

“We’re always ready for trouble.” His grin didn’t fool me. “Just happen to be in the neighborhood?”

“Afraid not. Do you think you and I might talk inside where it’s more comfortable, and perhaps I could get a drink?”

His message was fucking clear. Our men were to remain outside in a kind of silent stand-off. Waiting to see the outcome of our talk? Maybe. But we were at my home, and I called the fucking shots. Corvacks was a wealthy, powerful man, but even he had to know he’d overstepped the limits of his authority.

“You want to talk, my brothers will be there.” His eyes hardened, I could tell he didn’t like it, but that was too fucking bad. I turned to head inside when I heard a sharp gasp.

I glanced at Audra, watching as her face turned white. She was staring at Covacks as if he was the fucking devil, and he was looking at her, too, but without the same horror. He seemed oblivious to her fearful reaction to him, his reaction more that of a man taking in the form of a beautiful woman. That is until his gaze finally reached her face. He frowned then, as if he were trying to figure out where he’d seen her before. I thought back to the picture Fox had shown me. She hadn’t been in the picture with Covacks and her ex, hadn’t recognized his name, but that didn’t mean that they hadn’t met at some time.

When Audra’s gaze moved past Covacks to me, the hurt and disbelief I saw reflected in her accusing depths set me the fuck back. She quickly spun around as if nothing were wrong and continued to sweep. I’d have to fucking deal with her later, after I got rid of Covacks. I moved, but he continued to stand there, his narrowed eyes on Audra. I didn’t like it one fucking bit.

“Problem?”

“No.” He began to follow me. “The woman, I thought I recognized her from somewhere.” I didn’t respond. He’d probably remember where in time, but I wasn’t fucking helping him. “She’s very beautiful.”

Yes, she was, even dressed in hand-me-down clothes that didn’t quite fit, her fiery hair a tumbled mess all around her. I shifted my gaze to the swell of her ass showing beneath her cut offs as I yanked open the door and let Covacks precede me into the bar. My brothers and his men followed in no particular order.

“Snake, a bottle and a couple glasses.” I led Covacks to a booth in the far corner, away from the mess. Rock joined us. The others took seats at some of the tables close enough to hear.

Snake set the bottle of Johnnie Walker down, two glasses, and walked away without a word. I poured a generous serving in each glass, handed one to Covacks, and watched him toss it back without a breath.

“Someone killed my son, Dominick.” He slammed his empty glass down onto the table.

So, it was finally confirmed. I wasn’t going to ask him how. The ring we’d found had been over-nighted to him. That alone wouldn’t have been enough proof that the charred body on the side of the road was his son. I wondered why he’d felt the need to tell me in person, unless he was looking for something. His shrewd eyes were narrowed, watching me closely, as if gauging my reaction to the news, before shifting over to my brothers. He was going to be disappointed if he was looking for a sign of guilt, because we weren’t fucking responsible.

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