Page 1 of The MC's Little Brother

1

Wraith

“Heads up!”

“Dammit! Rooster, I’m gonna kill you!”

Rooster blasted past me with a maniacal cackle, running down the hall. Not a few seconds later, a seriously pissed-off Vegas tore after him, his face flushed and his teeth bared. Vegas was a relaxed guy, so I was curious about what got him that riled, but I wasn’t about to get into the middle of whatever that was. As Vice President of the Dirty Devils Motorcycle Club, it wasn’t my job to get in the middle of those two. That honor belonged to Butch.

I headed for the lobby, shutting my door quietly behind me. I wasn’t as boisterous as some of the guys in the crew, but none of them seemed to mind. I got a few claps on the back and chin lifts on my way out, and when I looked around the lobby and saw Prez across the room, he lifted his hand in greeting. I sauntered over to meet him, not even blinking when Gracie crashed against my legs. She was one of Butch’s kids, and smart as all get out. We got along well, and she always came looking for me when we were all together. I took her hand without a word, finishing the walk to Prez’s side.

“Everything ready to go?”

I nodded once. I wasn’t very chatty, but he was used to it by now. Prez and I had been friends since we were kids. He knew to fill in the blanks when I didn’t say much.

We were in another town for an annual motorcycle rally for a few days. It was a nice way to meet new people who loved bikes as much as we did, and the club always found a prospect or two at rallies like these. A few guys were retiring this year, so Prez wanted to look around for new members. Not all the guys at the rally would be interested when they figured out we weren’t one percenters and made our livings honestly, but we weren’t interested in those people anyway. Motorcycle clubs got a bad rap because of the one-percenters. We got hassled just because they lumped us all in together, nevermind every member had a clean background. A few months back, they even tried to pin something on Butch, just to get us off their streets.

“Has Rusty gotten ahold of you yet?” Prez asked me.

Rusty was our road captain. He was normally in charge of club runs and planning all this out, but he was one of the old-timers and his health hadn’t been the best lately. He was one of the guys who said they’d never retire and I’d feel bad forcing him out of his position, but we were all worried about him taking on too much. We all took it hard when a member passed, and Prez didn’t want to lose him before his time.

“No. Might have better luck asking Melissa or Tank.”

He nodded. Melissa was his sister and a nurse at the one hospital we had in town. She’d know if Rusty was there. Tank was their dad, the club founder, and had the strongest connection with the old-timers. He also said he knew everything. If anyone knew how Rusty was doing, it was probably him.

“I’ll make some calls. Is this everyone?”

He wasn’t looking at me, his focus on his old lady, who was talking with Skylar and Mel. Ever since she came into the picture, he couldn’t look away. She held the newest addition to the crew in her arms, Skylar and Butch’s kid, a little boy they named Ryder. I rolled my eyes, fighting back a smirk. He could count for himself if he really was paying attention. Case in point, when I stepped outside, only half the guys were waiting. I sighed.

“Didn’t we say nine?”

Ellie made a raspberry noise from where she watched on Butch’s hip.Somehow, with four kids, two in diapers, Butch was still one of the few who managed to be on time. Then again, he was always a stickler for the rules. Prez didn’t make him Sergeant-at-Arms for nothing.

Heading for Butch, I put out my hands. He offered me Ellie with a grunt, not pausing his conversation with Axel. He was the owner of the bar we frequented and a solid member. Like Butch, he knew how to show up somewhere on time.

“Hey, smart girl. You ready for the rally?”

“‘nack.”

Baby talk wasn’t easy to understand, but Gracie was still beside me and didn’t hesitate to translate for me.

“She wants a snack. I taught her that word.”

Smirking, I lifted my fist for a bump, which she promptly returned. “Good job.”

“Gracie girl. You ready to go?” Butch asked during a pause in the conversation.

She bobbed her head, pointing at me. “I’m gonna ride with Matty today.”

My expression flattened, and I gave the guys a dirty look when they snickered. Only Gracie or Zoey ever got away with using that name. I’d hurt anyone else who tried. When Butch raised an eyebrow at me, I sighed, resigned, and looked down at her.

“Let’s go. If we start moving, they’ll follow eventually.”

The rally was only a few streets down, which was one reason we chose the hotel, but we still had to drive to get there. It wouldn’t be a rally if we didn’t show off our bikes. I handed off Ellie to Butch so he could feed her and led the way to where we’d parked our rides with Gracie regaling me with what she’d done in school the other day. It took a patient person to listen to Gracie when she got started on something, but I liked listening to her. She was smart and took to coding like she was born to it. If things kept going the way they were, she’d be my protégé one day.

Not that anyone in my crew knew what I did. They knew it was tech-related, but I wasn’t big on sharing the details. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them. It was just confidential. Being a hacker for the FBI made me a target, and the thing that best protected me was my anonymity.

“Where’s Flash?” I queried as I helped her with her helmet.

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