Page 41 of Vex

“I might wanna just walk away now before I choke on my foot,” Suki mumbles as she walks off amid the guy’s laughter.

“I better get back to work before I start questioning the man-whore comment,” I tell Vex and watch as his face suddenly shutters his thoughts. Unease hits my stomach as he releases me, and I leave him with his friends.

After our shift, Vex follows me back to my house. I wanted to get home right away because Tessie’s been radio silent all evening and that’s not like her. She usually texts me dozens of times and I’ve heard nothing from her since around 8pm.

Pulling into my drive, I get a bad feeling when I see the house is completely dark. It’s not unusual for Tessie to wait up for me but even when she doesn’t, she leaves a few lights on. She won’t admit it, but she’s always been a little afraid of the dark.

I’m walking quickly to the porch when Vex appears at my side and uses his hand to pull me behind him. Looking at his face, I see concern. I grip his bicep and feel my stomach drop.

“Something’s wrong,” Vex says before stopping and turning to face me. “Go wait in your car. I’ll go in and check things out.”

“No way! I’m staying with you. Oh God, Tessie,” I say as I start to push past Vex.

“Stay behind me then. Get your phone out and pull up Freddy’s number just in case you need to make a quick call. I mean it, Taja. Stay behind me.”

Once we’re at the door, I know she’s no longer in our home. There are a few spots of what looks like blood on the door jam, and the door isn’t closed all the way. Vex slowly pushes the door open and we see Tessie’s cell phone on the floor just inside. Stepping into the living room, Vex flips on the light. It’s obvious there was a struggle. A few things are knocked over, and there’s more blood, like a handprint, on the wall next to the door.

“Call Freddy and Trigger now. Cash too if you have his number. I’m gonna check out the rest of the house,” Vex orders before walking off.

I’m trying not to flip out and to stay calm and rational. Not easy when your little sister is missing, and someone left blood behind. I make the calls and then scurry through the house until I catch up with Vex.

After we’ve determined that Tessie is definitely missing and that no one else is in the house, I collapse on a kitchen chair, shaking.

I make several calls to Tessie’s friends hoping this isn’t what it looks like and that one of them knows where she’s at. I call a few neighbors too, but most don’t know anything. One neighbor, Mr. Shegan, said he’d seen a ratty looking black van turning out of our street around 8:30pm when he was walking his dog. He didn’t recognize it as one from our neighborhood and that it had New Mexico plates. I feel the panic start to rise, but I beat that down the best I can. Vex grabs a chair and pulls it over so we’re facing one another and sits.

“Any idea who could’ve taken her?” he questions quietly.

“Rooster.”

“Who’s that?” he asks.

“Our dad. President of the Spirit Skulls MC out of Santa Fe. They’re all lowlifes and dirtbags. I should’ve known he’d do something when we didn’t come to their club party. I didn’t think he’d do this though,” I explain while trying to surface from the crushing guilt. I didn’t do my job and keep her safe. I then tell him what Mr. Shegan had told me.

Before Vex can say anything, we hear a bike coming down the street. Not long after Cash walks inside, we hear more. Soon, the house is crawling with bikers.

“What do we know?” Trigger barks at no one in particular.

Vex explains what I’ve told him so far and what we’ve found. I watch as Trigger’s face changes from concern to rage.

“I remember Rooster. The Skulls were a Denver club before most of you guys were old enough to ride. His club’s as dirty as they get. How the fuck are you two his daughters?” Trigger spits.

“It wasn’t by choice!” I holler back.

“Shit! Sorry, girl. I wasn’t blaming you. I didn’t know that asswipe even had kids,” Trigger says in a much calmer voice.

“I remember him too. Gunner’s dad and I had several run-ins with Rooster and that club until they left town,” Petey adds.

“I remember the name and Dad talking about problems with them. Don’t remember much else though. How’d we not know we have another club’s president’s daughter working for us?” Gunner asks while prowling the kitchen.

“That’s on me, Gunner. Taja was just working for us for three days as a fill-in. I didn’t have Rex run a background check for that short of time. Then things changed and she stayed on full-time. I forgot to get with Rex and have it done,” Freddy states.

“You said something about a club party, Taja. What was that about? Tell us everything you can because it could help,” Vex asks me.

I tell them everything. I don’t hold back out of embarrassment. I have no reason to be embarrassed about Rooster’s behavior. That’s all on him. As I’m talking, I can feel the room start to vibrate with anger. It’s a tangible thing and it would be frightening if I was the cause of it. I keep my eyes on Vex’s as I spill my guts about our family’s dirty secret. Rooster.

“It was your dad that gave you the black eye when you first started at Dreams?” Freddy asks.

“One of his men. He watched and was okay with it.”

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