Page 11 of Sleeper

“I need someone to stay with Belle and a coworker of mine to keep them safe.”

“Lina would do it. I’ll call and fill her in,” Sledgehammer said, running his hand over his tattooed head.

“Alright.” I clapped my hands down on the table and stood, bringing Mrs. Slayton’s name up on my phone.

“Meet back here at sunset,” Tin Man demanded before he jumped to his feet and adjusted his cut.

7

SLEEPER

Sac’s head bobbed from side to side as our bikes rolled to a stop and we got closer to the gate that kept unwanted people out of Royal Road. He was fucking lucky he was our Road Captain. We hadn’t made it out of Ohio before we stopped to fuel up and Sledge threatened to slash his tires if he said one more word about Kingpin’s girls.

“Pssst. Sledge,” Sac said as we waited for a brother to come check our credentials. Sledge’s back tensed, he heard him but didn’t answer. “I said psst, Sledge. Earth to Hammer. Sledgehammer—”

“For fuck’s sake and biscuits, Sledge, answer him or I’m gonna curb stomp his ass,” I growled out, tired of the bullshit.

“Go ahead,” Sledge grumbled.

“That wouldn’t stop me, and you know it. Sledge.Sledgehammer!”

“Fucking what?” Sledge bellowed as he glared at Sac. How the man didn’t disintegrate into a pile of ash was something I couldn’t comprehend, because Sledge’s glare was downright ferocious right now.

“I’m gonna touch some boobies,” Sac sang as he thrust his junk up in the air a few times.

“If I hear one more damn word out of your mouth, I’m gonna shoot you in your junk. I’m fucking serious, Sac.”

“Boo.” Sac smiled at me, and my body shook with silent laughter. “Bees!”

Sledge put his kickstand down and was off his bike in a flash.

“Hammer. We need his ass. Save it for the junkies,” Tin Man barked the order just as Sledge’s hand wrapped around Sac’s throat. Of course, Sac wasn’t fazed. I didn’t have proof and sure as shit didn’t want any, but I think the fucker got off on pain. I bet his dick was half-masted the entire ride here, and if Sledge’s hand would have been attached to a set of tits, Sac would have blown his load right here in front of all of us.

“We talked to Opry,” Wiley spoke as his leather-gloved hand gave Cricket our IDs.

After a couple of minutes, he nodded, then said, “Y’all are good,” and opened the gate for us. The last time I was here I was solo and hadn’t taken the time to really notice much outside of the casino and strip club. There were countless old warehouses sitting on the property along with apartments.

Opry greeted us outside with a tip of his cowboy hat. “Mackenzi’s inside, but she’s alone. She seems nervous. I don’t trust her.”

Fuck. If we rode all this way and went back home empty handed the loss would be on me. There was no one else to blame.

“Well, let’s see if we can make a little birdy sing her fucked-up song,” I said after a cleansing breath. I blew another big puff of air out of my mouth, praying we got what we needed before we left Royal Road. This being a dead-end wasn’t an option.

All of the women in the bar were beautiful; this definitely wasn’t Cat Call. This place had it all. Class and quality ass. Sac whistled. “Every damned time you all bring me here I don’t get to have any fun. What’s up with that?’

“We like to keep our employees, Sac,” Opry teased, scratching the skin under his beard.

“Ouch!” Sac’s hand clutched at his leather vest as if Opry hurt his feelings. He hadn’t. In all the years I’d rode alongside Sac, I’d never seen him truly upset over being on the receiving end of our jokes. Fucker had thick skin, I had to give him credit for that.

“They haven’t heard of growers not showers have they, buddy?” Kingpin asked, walking to where we stood while scratching his chest. I wasn’t sure if I had ever seen the man wear anything under his leather, but the last two times I saw him it was here.

“Glad to see you, brother,” Sac greeted Kingpin with smile.

“She’s in here,” Opry nodded toward through the club and led us to Kingpin’s sound proof room..

8

VERA

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