Page 119 of Stone

It wasn’t easy being a military wife. They were alone a lot of the time, missing their men without much help or support. I wasn’t stupid, I could see how it could happen, but I never once believed my girl would do it.

Not to me.

Not to us.

She’d wrecked me, broken my heart, sentenced me to a life full of nothing.

My jaw clenched so tight it hurt.

And what the fuck was Elise talking about when she said she went to Dad? I didn’t understand, he never said a word to me, he just explained how he was grieving and jacked up by Mom’s death. Nothing around me made sense anymore. People I always thought I could trust were turning out to be the biggest traitors and my head spun with it.

I felt the heat lick up my throat and behind my eyes. Raising both hands, I pressed the heel of my palms to the sockets trying to think of who I could go to, who could explain. Who the fuck could shed some light on everything that had happened when I was gone?

Who in that club could I trust to be honest with me?

Leesy’s voice floated through my brain…

The only honorable person left is Iris…

Teeth gritting, I switched Bessie’s engine on, revved the engine, and sped away.

I needed answers, and God help me, I’d make sure I got every single one before I confronted my dad. If he’d played a part in Elise leaving me, he’d see the man he created in his image, the future prez of the Speed Demons.

And he wouldn’t like that man one bit.

It took mere minutes to get to Abe and Iris’s house, which was in the opposite direction at the back of Main Street on the side of the Speed Demons’ compound.

By the time I screeched to a halt, and jumped out of Bessie’s cab, Abe was already storming outside with a shotgun aimed straight at me.

“Christ, Stone,” he yelled, lowering the barrel and placing the weapon down on the porch swing. “The fuck you playin’ at? Thought we were bein’ damned ambushed.”

“Why haven’t you and Iris been at the club?” I demanded, stomping up the wooden porch steps. “Been back a couple’a days and I haven’t seen hide nor hair of either of ya. You haven’t even given me your condolences about Mom.”

Abe’s face fell. “I’m leavin’ the Demons. Don’t like the shit that goes on there. I gotta woman to think about, someone I love deeply. It’s not an environment I want her in.”

I looked Abe straight in the eye. “Why?”

He jutted his chin up and kept silent.

“What did they do to Elise?” I asked, tone hard as nails. “Is it true Dad shot at her? Missed?”

“We both know he missed on purpose, John,” Abe murmured. “If he intended to hit her, he would’ve.”

My hand tore through my hair. “Why didn’t you stop him?” I bellowed. “He could’ve killed her. She was fucking pregnant!”

“Was on a run,” Abe said, no infliction in his tone. “Found out about it three days after it happened, from the fuckin’ mayor of all people. He came speeding up, shoutin’ his mouth off at Bandit. He nearly got shot himself. It wasn’t good.”

“What the fuck?” I breathed, gut roiling.

Abe heaved a breath. “Can’t be part of that. My Iris has some lip on her. If she sees shit she don’t agree with, she speaks up; it’s what I love most about her. One day, she’ll speak up there and if anyone does it to her, I’ll burn that barn down with every brother inside. Your mom was revered, John, but I don’t like the way they treat the other ol’ ladies. Half of the married men have their dicks in the whores, who incidentally run riot, and their wives are expected to turn a blind eye. Your dad never did it, but since Connie’s been gone, he hasn’t come up for air. There’s no order anymore, no respect. If I wanted to live in the Wild West I’d be wrangling horses, not goddamned bikers.”

The front door opened, and Iris walked out holding two beer bottles. “Here,” she said, handing me one and another to Abe. “I think you need these.”

I took the bottle with one hand and scraped the other one down my face. Turning to Iris, I asked, “You okay, Rissy?”

She smiled through the worry behind her eyes. “I’m fine, but the club’s starting to frighten me, John. I love ‘em, I do, all of ‘em, but there’s a dark side I’m not sure I’m cut out for. Connie kept it under control, but she’s not here anymore and your dad in his grief is acting in ways I can’t condone.”

“Elise,” I muttered, sucking down a long swig of beer and swallowing it deep.

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