Page 19 of Stripping Keys
Grinning, I move to my desk, grab what I need, and head for the door. I unlock it, open enough to step through, pulling it shut right behind me. I take a moment to secure the lock, locking her in. It might seem fucked up to do, but I’m not taking the chance of her running away.
I should go back in there and say to hell with everything else. If I did that, no one would see either of us until I felt I was sated from my need with her. What I need to do is once I finish this meeting, take her to my place. If I did that, I could enjoy doing everything I want to do to her for days on end.
Sighing heavily, I shove the keys in my pocket, push thoughts of fucking Marla to the back of my mind for the time being, and head down the hallway toward church.
While Marla slept, we met twice to talk to over all the details not just what Marla had given us, but the sit-down that Nines and Blow had with Calyx, West, and Marla.
That bit of news pissed me off that I hadn’t been in on it, then again, none of them knew what she was to me. Even now, they’ve questioned what’s going on with me, but I’ve not answered them about what’s happening. Just that I’m keeping her locked up for her own good.
Unlike the rest of my brothers, I have a deadbolt lock that is key only. You can’t access my room without it, and you can’t get out without it being unlocked. It’s probably overboard, but if you live a life like I did, you learn to protect yourself anyway you can.
Plus, putting her in my room is better than her being put in a cell to keep her safe. Nothing can touch her while she’s in there.
Although I probably should have texted West and sent him in there before locking the door. It would have given her company.
But I didn’t.
She’ll be okay until I’m done with church. When I finish, I’ll go get her and give her time with everyone else.
Church is more of the same. My brothers arguing over the intel we’d been handed and what Blow and Nines reported to all of us.
It’s a fuck load of shit that could fuck with not just a few of us, but the whole damn club. We thought we’d taken care of the group when we saved Chelsea. Then the shit happened with Olive. The heads of the snake keep being chopped but growing back. It’s not a damn snake but a fucking hydra.
Between the times we were breaking, I’d spent time looking into my own sources of information to see if I couldn’t find anything more. Everything I found was all about concreting what Marla had given us. She’d been more than a little thorough in what she found, which I found more than alarming. The danger she put herself in to find out what she found out was more than enough to scare a man to death.
During those months, she worked her ass off getting the club the intel, she all but been on radar for those men without being on radar all at the same time. They knew someone was getting information, they just didn’t know who. To them, Marla had been a sweet piece to look at.
“We need to just take the rest of the group out and be done with it,” Scorn remarks from his seat. “Then we won’t have to deal with this shit anymore.”
“We do that without a plan of attack, we’ll not only get ourselves in the line of sight of every ABC agency, but we’ll also put the women and children in more danger than they already are,” Shiner grunts.
“Have we heard back from our friends in the sheriff’s office or the police department?” Griz asks, his focus on Blow at the head of the table.
“They’ve not heard anything so far. I’ve made them aware. If we’re gonna do this right with minimum bloodshed, I hate to say it, but they’ve got to be in the loop of what’s goin’ on here. The last thing we need is for them to be against us when shit goes down,” Blow growls, slamming a fist down on the table. “We don’t know how it’s going to go or when, but to take these bastards out completely, we have to be levelheaded and smart about it.”
Though Blow is known for being hotheaded and blowing his lid, he’s not done that as much lately. It’s like he knows something that the rest of us don’t. Makes me want to ask what that is. Had Marla shared something else with him he hasn’t given to the rest of the class?
“We need to wait until they make the first move,” I speak up, knowing it was the right thing to do. “If we play any hands ahead of time, they’ll come at us tenfold. There’s a chance they don’t know anything has been reported to us. That’s the purpose of Marla not sending the files to me electronically. She brought them in person to minimize anyone being alerted to the fact we now know anything.”
“Exactly,” Blow grunts and raps his knuckles on the table. “We need this to go right. Anyone else got anything to add, or think of as a way to deal with this?”
For the next thirty minutes, we all continue discussing and modifying what we’re gonna do. In the end, it’s decided that we keep going as we would typically, but on high alert. None of the women go anywhere without someone on them. Marla was to stay in lockdown. We didn’t want to take the chance of anyone seeing her and doing something that would end up getting her in deep shit.
I didn’t mind the idea of her being on lockdown, I’d take care to make sure she was secure at all times. I didn’t think she’dlike the idea very much, but at this point, she doesn’t have much choice. Whether she wanted it or not, she was being protected.
My brothers and I also came to the agreement that West could stick around. Evidently, Griz had a sit-down with him and found he was one of the only people who could help keep Marla in his words ‘in check’. That’s not exactly what I would call it, but whatever works, works.
Blow finishes church with the banging of the gavel. I hang back wanting a moment with him and Nines both. Whatever it is they know, I want. My gut is telling me it’s big, and I’ve never been steered wrong with my gut before.
“What’s up, brother?” Nines asks, the moment the three of us are alone.
“What is it you two aren’t sharing?” I go ahead and ask flat out.
Blow and Nines share a look before looking back to me, Blow cocking a brow as he does. “What makes you think we know something we haven’t shared?”
“Prez, I think more than anyone else in this club, I’ve learned to read between the words and even body language. You two know something more that you haven’t shared. I want to know what it is.”
Nines leans forward, braces his elbows in front of him, and hands are clasped. “Hate to say this, brother, but some things we can’t share. It’s not our place to share it.”
