Chapter Twenty-Nine
Niran
“It was a bust, Prez.” To relieve pressure on my arms and shoulders as much as what remains of my leg, using crutches can be a bitch, I’m perched on a low wall outside the Utah clubhouse. To my right, I see Mystic greeting Grinch and Goofy.
“I heard,” Lost replies drily. “I was sure that plan was going to smoke him out.”
Me too. “I don’t know what to do next, Prez.” Save using Saffie, exposing her to danger again, and I’m not prepared to do that.
“Could he have given up?”
“That’s Snatcher’s way of thinking, Prez. But I’m not so sure. The only reason for him not turning up must be that word hadn’t gotten to him.”
Lost’s quiet for a moment. “Any other sign of him at all?”
“Not since that sighting of him with Grit and Susie. He’s dropped back off the radar.”
“You know, you were making a lot of assumptions that Susie had teamed up with him. Perhaps it was a chance meeting?”
“No fuckin’ chance, Prez. Last I saw of her, Duke was making her a club whore, and not one where she was willing. That image of the three of them together? They looked cosy as hell. There has to be something in it for her.”
“Always liked biker cock, that one. Maybe his punishment didn’t have quite the effect you were thinking. Maybe she enjoyed it and wanted more.”
Lost may have a point, but I’d met most of the Crazy Wolves. All I’ll say is the club wasn’t misnamed.
“How did Susie find him?”
“Fuck knows,” I reply. Then, when the silence stretches out, I add, “Hell, Lost. You’ve got a point. If she could find him, why can’t we?”
“Her cousin, the fed,” he suggests.
But surely Honor and Duty can get into the same databases? I make a mental note to check.
“You thought about coming home?” All the fucking time. The brothers, and Swift, here are okay, but it’s not like having my own family around me. “And how’s Saffie?”
“Saffie’s doing great.” I answer his second question first. “She’s far less jumpy. And Lost, she’s agreed to be my old lady.”
“That’s fuckin’ great.” He sounds genuine. “We’d love to have you both back.”
“But Duke’s the unknown,” I tell him. “Utah’s better equipped to look after themselves, and there are no kids around. I don’t want trouble to follow us home.”
“What the fuck, Niran? You don’t think we can handle shit?”
“Nah,” I step that back fast. “That’s not what I meant. It’s the old ladies, the kids—”
“That means we protect all the harder. It’s no reason for you not to come home. In fact, as your Prez, I’m ordering you to.”
He’s not making it easy. Now I’ve got my prosthesis sorted, the only reason I’m staying away is out of respect for my club. I’d be elated to go home. There’s no medical reason for me to stay. In three more weeks, all I’ll need is the cast to be removed, and an assessment of how the bones have fused.
But as he’s insisting, I have no choice other than to agree. “Okay, Prez. I’ll get things moving from my end.”
“See that you do. Can’t wait to welcome you back, Brother.”
“How’s everyone, Prez? What’s the latest on Mary and Grumbler?”
“Mary’s doing well, the baby’s hanging on in there. Two more weeks and they’re going to induce her. They just want to leave him cooking as long as they can.”
“Looks positive, then?” I ask him, pleased as fuck it seems to be working out for them.