Page 35 of Old Flame

“We are going to walk over and go in at every entrance. Women stay here, except for Dolly, Nina, and Goldie.”

He swung his eyes to me. “We go in the back. I’m putting our three women in a back room near the exit. I want you to guard it.”

I nodded. He wanted me protecting his wife. I understood. He needed to be focused to help Pepper.

“Ringer, you stay here with the prospects to protect the girls.”

The Micah from before Dolly wouldn’t have thought about the other girls’ safety. But he knew his wife would have something to say if they were left out here with no protection. Knowing Dolly, I was sure she’d refuse to leave them, and he’d have to toss her tiny ass over his shoulder to get her to move.

“Jars, Grinder, and Butch, take the front entrance. Lick, Pinch, and Fox, go in the side door. Country and Brick, you’re with me and Tex in the back. Do what needs to be done to protect Pepper first,” he added.

My head was playing out several scenarios. If this was another club or someone here to seek revenge on The Judgment, then it was going to be messy.

“Tex,” Nixie called out as I started to follow Micah.

She had her orders, and I had mine. There was unmistakable panic in her voice. I didn’t have patience for that shit.

It had probably been a mistake, letting her ride on the back of my bike.

15

Salem

When Eamon had gotten sick with Goodpasture syndrome and we were given his life expectancy, I’d lain in bed that night, thinking about death. How his life had been shortened because he’d ignored signs and hidden them from me, afraid of the cause. I had thought about Vanna and her fight with cancer. Then I had let myself think about my death.

How would it happen? What would it be that took my life in the end?

I could tell you that not one time had I imagined this. Sitting frozen on a barstool beside Kendrix, Pepper on the other side of the counter, with six men—who looked far more frightening than the bikers had—pointing guns at us.

The other customers were cowered under tables and hiding behind whatever object they had found. They seemed to be safe, however, because it was this direction where the scary men were focused.

I wasn’t sure I’d breathed since Pepper had stopped talking and gotten still.

She had been telling us about the new band she had coming in to play on Thursday night, but her words simply halted. I saw her reach for something under the bar, but she didn’t pull out anything. There were gasps, curses, and scraping of chairs behind us, causing me to turn around to see what washappening. Why Pepper had paled and gone silent, what the frantic noises were all about.

The six men were covered in tattoos. One had a tattoo that went all the way up onto his face—which, like the others, had several piercings. The man in the center of them all—if he hadn’t reminded me of a thug, I would have thought he was attractive—was the leader. There was that unmistakable air of authority about him. His darker skin and light-brown eyes, which reminded me of honey, made for a nice mix, if not for the cruel glint in his eyes.

His gaze settled on Kendrix, then swung to me, and a sadistic smile curled his lips, which made me shiver.

“Jett,” he said and winked at me before turning his gaze back to Kendrix, “you’ve been ignoring my calls.”

Kendrix started to move, and three of the men turned their aim directly at him.

“Wait!” Kendrix shouted. “Don’t do this…here,” he said.

The honey-eyed man’s attention shifted back to me, almost as if he was amused.

He tilted his head slightly, and then his gaze traveled down my body, making me feel exposed. “While I can appreciate your taste in cunts and the distraction this one must be,” he said in a slow, raspy voice, his eyes shooting back to Kendrix, “you stole from us. You stole fromme.” The man made a tsking sound. “You should have known better.”

“No, I—”

The man cut him off, “Are you calling me a liar, Jett?”

“No, of course not.”

“Sure sounds like it.” He looked at the men flanking him, and they nodded in agreement. Then he cut his gaze back to me. I wished he’d stop that. “I might take some collateral.”

“Wait, I can get it,” Kendrix began.

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