Page 45 of The Sentinels

"We want our brothers back, too!" Joker snarled loudly.

"That it?" a tall, heavily-tattooed biker asked. His arms were crossed over his chest and he wasn’t wearing a shirt beneath his cut. He was built like a wrestler.

"No. We keep your guns."

There were plenty of vocal protests over Gabe's comment.

"Fucking assholes!"

"I'm sure you've got a few hidden somewhere around here that we didn't get," Tanner growled angrily. "We want the trouble in our town stopped. You have two days to pack up and leave, or we'll be back. You've been warned."

I made eye contact with Rod and gave him the motion to come down. Before moving, he looked across the grounds and gave a signal, which I assumed was to Charlie.

"What about our brothers?" Coffee inquired with a firm jaw.

Tanner locked eyes on the old coot. He shrugged. "Don't know where they are. No one does ‘cept the prez and VP." Tanner continued to stare him down. He shrugged again. "Go ahead; check the whole fucking place. They aint here."

"Where would Maniac take them?"

He snorted as if Tanner's question were funny. "Fuck if I know, and if I did, I wouldn't tell ya."

I made a step toward him, fists clenched. I knew ways to make him talk. Right now Maniac could be doing anything to our brothers. But as I got closer to the old shit, Tanner stuck his arm out to stop me from going any further.

"You tell your prez that we want our brothers back before morning."

"Or what?"

"Or your MC leaves here in body bags."

It couldn't get any plainer than that.

Chapter 23

Emerson

Faced with unexpected time off from work, I’d called Bonnie to see if she wanted to go to the boardwalk with me. Her live-in boyfriend was an airline steward and gone a lot, so I’d taken the chance that she was alone, and I’d been right. She'd eagerly accepted my invitation, and by eleven o'clock we were at our favorite pizza place and having an early lunch.

"Mmmm, this is so freaking good!" she said around a mouthful of mushroom pizza.

I couldn't disagree with her. "Even better with beer," I said, taking a long drink that quenched my thirst. "How come you're not having one?"

She shrugged, but couldn't disguise the tiny, secretive smile on her mouth. It wasn't the first time that I’d had the feeling that she was keeping something from me.

I wiped my mouth and gave her a long look. "Okay, what's going on?"

She tilted her head, amusement swimming in her eyes. "I'll tell you if you tell me."

I frowned with confusion. "I don't understand. Tell you what?"

Bonnie laughed before taking a sip of her cola. "Like who gave you that huge hickey on your neck." She took a small bite of pizza. "Did you think that side braid hid it from me?"

"I thought it had," I giggled, feeling myself grow warm beneath her laughing eyes, And even warmer when I recalled how I'd gotten the hickey.

"Did you and Doyle change your minds on what kind of relationship you wanted?"

"No!" I rushed out in a shocked tone.

"So, who then?" she insisted. "Who gave you that love bite, girl?"

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