Page 31 of The Devil's Conflict

“Officer, we were all here having a good night with our women,” Bullet tells him with far more patience than I could muster in this situation. Because all of us know exactly who is responsible for this, but it’s not something we can say aloud. Not until we’re in Church and know we’re not being watched or recorded. “And before you ask, we are a non-outlaw club, we run legitimate businesses, and clearly someone has it out for us. We don’t know who it is, and honestly, this bullshit is getting annoying.”

The officer doesn’t look convinced but he also knows he can’t refute it. We’ve worked with the cops in the past on charity things and even helped them out willingly with investigations.“Any chance that it could be connected to the shooting that happened here last week?”

“The detectives then believe it was someone going after someone specific inside,” Viper points out. “They shot purposely at one side of the building where some men were sitting in a booth. And if I’m not mistaken, that man was recently arrested for doing shady business deals, was he not?” It’s a simple, but loaded question.

That one little thing that came out of the investigation at the last shooting that we found out earlier today helped take any heat off us, even though we all know that it was happenstance. Still, it’s enough that we don’t look like the bad guys and the cops stopped trying to sniff around.

“I might have heard something about it,” the officer says noncommittally. “But I’ll have to check with the detective to be sure. So, what, you think they were coming back to finish the job?”

“Has it been determined if it was arson or something else?” I ask him tightly.

The officer’s eyes shutter. “And who are you?” he asks sharply.

“I’m the VP of the club, and I manage the bar,” I reply in a mirror tone of his own. “And I want to know who tried to blow up my building, Officer.”

He doesn’t reply for a moment, the tension high, but finally, he nods and looks back at Bullet. “From what we can see, two explosions happened, and the Fire Chief and Arson Investigator’s preliminary investigation is showing that one was at the back between the kitchen and where the bathrooms are, and then one in the front. Can’t tell you what was set off, but since there is no burning car around that might explain it, it’s their best assumption that it was set deliberately.”

The tension between us ratchets up. Vlad was trying to kill us all in one go, and he didn’t care who got hurt in the process. Including the women. It would have wiped us all out; which is exactly what Vlad wants.

“Please have their report and your own sent to me as soon as you can,” Bullet tells him. “We’ll need to send it to the insurance company.”

The officer nods, though I have a feeling we won’t be seeing those reports for a bit. Especially not if he’s dirty, and something is telling me he’s not, but that doesn’t mean he can’t be bought, or that he might try and use it for his own gain professionally. I make a mental note to have Cryos look into him immediately. I memorize the name on his badge and his badge number, and when he walks away, I shoot both to Cryos and tell him to get to work immediately.

He sends back a confirmation and a note to tell me he’s trying to figure out who set off the explosions, but nothing yet. This has Vlad written all over it, and I’m fucking done. Tonight, we’re lucky that whoever he sent wasn’t good at what they do, because otherwise we’d be dealing with a hell of a lot of bodies, including the women. And from the looks on their men’s faces, it’s clear they’re thinking the same thing.

Viper has made his way back to Eden and pulled her tight into him, and King and Torque haven’t moved far from their women either, their faces masks of fury. I’ve never been so glad that Quinn and Syn are not here, or this shit would could have been fatal to them and their babies.

My gaze moves to a fuming Thea, who is glaring daggers at me, and when our gazes connect, I can all but feel the rage coming from her. She’s trying hard not to lose her shit in front of Rose, but it’s hard. But unlucky for her, she’s not going anywhere but back to the clubhouse with us when we’re done. Something we can fight about later.

It takes another hour before the cops leave, and the fire crews get the blaze out. I send the staff home after I’m sure they’re alright, with a promise they will get paid for the night and for any loss of tips. I don’t care if I have to pay them myself to make it happen, but they deserve it after this shit. But from the shaken looks of Katie and Amanda, I might be on the hunt for new staff too. Blair looks to be in shock, but I have a feeling she’s going to do whatever Amanda does. It’s something to worry about later.

When finally, the parking lot is empty but for the women and our club, we all move together. “We’re going back to the clubhouse. Now,” Bullet barks as he grabs Rose’s hand and pulls her toward his bike. Eden, Sage, and Izzy follow their men, but that leaves Thea and Sadie standing there.

“You’re with me,” I tell Thea tightly.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” she snaps back. “I’m not a part of your club, and I’m going home.”

“Thea, shut the fuck up and get on the fucking bike,” I yell at her, fed up. Her eyes widen, but then immediately narrow. “Someone tried to kill us, and until this shit is figured out, you’re coming to the clubhouse, just like Sadie. So stop being a pain in the ass and get on the back of my bike.”

“Dude, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack if you don’t calm down,” Sadie admonishes. “And she’s right, we aren’t a part of this, so if we want to leave, we’re leaving.”

“Sadie, get your ass on the back of Bowie’s bike,” Eden yells.

“You’re not the boss of me, bitch!” Sadie yells back.

“Jesus Christ, we don’t have time for this,” Bullet snaps. “Thea, you’re an employee of the security business, and consider yourself on duty right now, and you’re to report to the Devil’s Soldiers Clubhouse. Sadie, get your ass on a bike or in Thea’s car. We don’t have time to waste. Now.”

When Bullet speaks, people listen. A seething Thea heads for her car. Sadie looks unsure of which one she wants to go to, butdecides to follow Thea to her car. I head to my bike, and within minutes we’re pulling out. My normal place is up with Bullet, but this time, I pull out behind Thea and Sadie, with Theo and Carson on either side of me, and Bowie and Frost in front.

We reach the clubhouse without much of a problem, and when we pull up, I park behind Thea to make sure she doesn’t get any ideas. Then again, she’d probably run me over just to make a point. Thea shoves out of her car, looks around and then stalks over toward Viper, who is helping Eden off his bike. “I quit,” she barks at him, making his face shift to shock. Then she turns on her heel and heads back for her car. “Get your bike out from behind me or I’m going to run it over,” she warns me.

I simply climb off my bike and start toward her. She throws open her car door, but I move fast, pulling her back and away from her car, and countering most of her moves smoothly, until I’m trapping her against the car. “Stop it,” I snap harshly in her ear. “That’s enough, Thea.” Maybe it’s the steel in my voice, but she instantly stills, even as I feel her entire body shaking. “I get you’re pissed, and we’ll deal with it later, but for right now, you are going into that clubhouse where we know you’re safe, and you are going to do your job. Because you’re not quitting, no matter how pissed you are. Your job is going to be to guard the women, because we don’t know if these assholes will come back for them or not. Do you understand?”

She doesn’t answer for a moment, but then finally gives a stiff nod. I release her, easing back. She pushes away from the car, turns, and moves to go past me, but before I can predict, or counter, she brings her fist up and sucker punches me right in the nose. “Manhandle me again, and next time, I’ll put you on your ass,” she hisses when I curse, cupping my now bleeding nose. Then she moves away and heads for the front step, where Bullet, Viper, and now Shadow, are waiting. Viper turns away, grinning like an idiot, Bullet looks exasperated, and Shadowlooks resigned. I swipe at the blood, grateful it’s not broken, and also pissed that she managed to punch me in the first place.

She’ll pay for that, and I’m already planning her punishment. I just hope she’s ready, because everything she thought she knew about me is going to change, and this time, she’s not going to try and run away. She’s going to face it.

FOURTEEN

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