Page 67 of Avenging Devil: Part 1

To me, Saffie’s all woman, to him, she’s young enough to be his daughter and then some.

“I’ll get back to the Mustang.” I’m turning to go when Grumbler suddenly barks a laugh.

“What now?”

“Just had an idea brother. I’m gonna get me some fake tattoos and stick them on the baby once it’s born. Bring him in to see Ross and Gibbs’ faces.”

“Yeah?” I raise an amused eyebrow. “Whatcha think Mary’s going to say about that?”

His mirth disappears immediately. Guess he hadn’t thought that far. Grumbler might be our sergeant-at-arms, but behind closed doors, he’s putty in his old lady’s hands.

I get back to work, fighting with screws that don’t want to be turned, and bolts which have fused in their casings. I’m deep in concentration when, for the second time this morning, I’m interrupted. This time it’s the vibration of my phone alerting me I’ve received a message. Dismissing it as unimportant and can probably wait, I ignore it.

Only a few minutes later, I hear my name.

“Niran?”

Sighing, I pull my head from under the hood again. “Whatcha want, ol’ man?”

Grumbler’s standing right in front of me. “For you to fuckin’ read your text. Prez has called both of us in for a meeting.”

That does come under the heading of important. Within seconds, I’m wiping oil off my hands, and questioning the sergeant-at-arms with my eyes. As he shakes his head, I realise he knows nothing. Only pausing to take off our overalls and to instruct Snips that he’s now in charge, we head out to our rides.

The parking lot at the clubhouse is relatively empty, only a few bikes occupying spaces; Lost’s and the VP’s, Bone’s, Token’s and Brakes’. The latter is understandable, he runs our strip club, and works late into the night. Apart from the members we left at the auto-shop, I know Salem and Pennywise will be working next door in the recently renovated hangar doing their customisation work. Blaze will be at the tattoo parlour, Deuce setting up the bar for tonight, and Keeper will be at our motorcycle apparel shop. All the rest will be dotted around our businesses. Bones’ presence is explained as he has his office here and will be working through our books.

I’m in the lead as we enter, wondering why Grumbler and I have been called back. Lost doesn’t interrupt a workday unless it’s important.

Lost’s door is open. Taking it as an invitation I walk straight in, noting the presence of both the VP and the computer expert. Extra chairs have been brought in, so at a wave from the prez, I take a seat.

“You took your fuckin’ time.” Dart’s infectious smile takes the sting out of his words.

Grumbler just harrumphs, ignores him, and turns his attention to Lost. “What do you want, Prez?”

Lost’s eyes are on me, and I get the feeling whatever this is, I’m in the thick of it.What the fuck has Cyn done now?He waits for a beat before speaking. When he does, he waves to the man seated next to the VP. “Toke brought something to me just now. Seems the searches he set into motion a while back, searches initiated by you, Niran, triggered some red flags.”

Immediately, I sit straighter. Red flags can only mean one thing. And recently there’s only been one piece of information that I asked Token for.Duke.Full of anticipation, I sit forward eagerly. “You found Duke? You got the man who raped Saffie?” My fists clench and my breathing speeds up as I imagine getting revenge for her.

“Nah, the hits I got were on Saffie.”

Saffie?

Now noticing the look of concern on his face, my gut starts to churn. Damn it. Have I made this woman’s life worse just by asking about her? She’s the innocent, isn’t she? Who could be looking for her?

“Saffie?” I ask, my gut clenching at his firm confirmatory nod. “What flags?” I follow up with tightly.

Prez waves his hand. “Back track. Remind me again what you know about Saffie Jones, how you came across her, and what the fuck made you involve us? And Grumbler, before you ask why you’re here, Token tells me Mary was in the thick of it too.”

Grumbler jerks, growls, and asks, his voice full of concern, “She in trouble that could fall on my old lady?”

“That’s what we’re here to find out, Brother,” the VP replies reasonably.

As Grumbler shoots a death glare at me that would have any other man quaking, his unspoken words threatening unmistakeably,if you’ve put my old lady in danger, I’m gutting you,I clear my throat and begin speaking.

“I think you’ve heard what little I know already.” I brush my fingers down my face. “Saffie was raped by a biker. She relocated to San Diego to bring up her baby. Unfortunately, that didn’t go as planned. I tried to get close to her, but her fear of bikers is deep seated. All I know of the man who raped her is that his handle is Duke. And that’s about all I can tell you.”

Lost’s face is full of sympathy, and Token thumps his fist on the desktop.

“Fuck,” Lost breathes out, exchanging a glance with his VP. “I had hoped you’d know more.” He sits forward. “Token?”

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