Page 21 of Diesel
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Diesel
“Somethin’ feels off,” Loch said taking a seat beside me at the bar.
Loch owned the only bar in town. It was his but to be honest, it was for the club. The place was a rundown hole in the wall that had become the place where the brothers would go when the clubhouse got too stale. But once Reagan started working there, and had managed to turn it around a little, some of the townies started coming in regularly. Reagan even started making those fancy fucking drinks with fruit on the sides and shit. I wouldn’t have been surprised if she wasn’t planning on a Ladies’ Night at some point soon.
I ended up there that night because I needed to get out without getting away. It had been a week since the Cherry thing and I had been holed up at the clubhouse when I wasn’t working. I was keeping to myself more than normal, hiding away in my room. Which, was saying a lot. While I loved my brothers, I wasn’t the overly social type.
Reagan and Chris were working behind the bar. Chris kept sending me questioning glances like he knew something was off with me. But I kept avoiding his gaze. He wasn’t in the club but we all considered him family. He was a couple years younger than me and had more of a hipster vibe going on. Except his pretty face wasn’t cover by a hairy beard. I had found myself in bed with him on more occasions than I could count.
Though we had never been in a relationship, I had something with him that I didn’t have with anyone else. I could let my hair down a little around him. I could talk to him and I never felt like he judged me. We were both bi but it wasn’t something we flaunted. Not that we were ashamed, it simply wasn’t a big deal. Most of the club knew and didn’t give a shit. Which was nice. I was their brother, no matter what.
Shaking off all of those thoughts, I turned my attention to Loch. I raised a brow in question. Things had felt off since Savage let us go. We were looking over our shoulder, but for what we had no idea.
“You seen Stone today?” His face was hard like he was trying to figure something out.
“No.” I paused trying to remember the last time I’d seen Stone. “He swung by the clubhouse last night, but wasn’t there long.” He nodded slowly then pulled out his phone. After a moment of it ringing in his ear, he blew out a harsh breath and put his phone down.
“Tank!” Loch yelled out to the other side of the bar. Tank lumbered over, filling up the space between Loch and myself. “You seen Stone today?”
“Yeah,” he replied, pushing his thick curls out of his face with one of his giant hands. “Mel watched Grass today. Stone was there when I picked him up about three hours ago.”
“He isn’t answering,” Loch said, brows still drawn tight. Tank shrugged but I could feel the tension there.
“He said he had to drop some tools back off at the garage, then he was heading to the clubhouse.” Tank paused and scratched his cheek with his thumb. “Didn’t see him before I headed over here, though.”
“Want me to go look for him?” I asked thinking the distraction would be nice. I was sure there was nothing wrong. Loch had been more on edge lately, even though he didn’t let it show. I knew because I could see it written on Reagan’s face. She held all of their emotions on her sleeve. I was glad he finally found someone to take care of him.
“Yeah,” Loch said. “Ride over to his place. Talk to Mel.”
With a nod, I slipped off the stool. I felt Chris’ eyes on me as I walked away. I broke down and glanced over at him. His face was etched with curiosity and concern. I slightly shook my head. I knew I would most likely find myself at his house later. But I had a feeling it wouldn’t start off like it always did.
The truth was, I was starting to think I was crazy and maybe I needed to talk to someone. My thoughts of Ellie were bordering on obsessive and I needed to know I wasn’t going insane. But all of that was going to have to wait. Right then, I had a brother to find and a club to take care of.
Mel answered the door with panic in her eyes. I stepped in and she shut the door quickly behind me. We didn’t make it any further into the house. Her hand grabbed my wrist and I suddenly felt that odd feeling that Loch was having.
“This isn’t a social call, is it?” Her usually strong voice sounded broken as she tried to joke. I looked down at her not sure of what to say. “He said he’d be home two hours ago. He’s never this late.”
It was true. Stone loved Mel and his family. When he said he was going to be home he made sure to be there. If he couldn’t, he would always call. The fact that she was worried and hadn’t heard from him didn’t sit right with me.
“Take a breath and sit.” I calmly pulled her to the couch. Her knees buckled as she tried to lower herself down. My hands wrapped around her and she clutched my shirt tightly. I held her for a few moments as she tried to calm herself down.
“Somethin’ isn’t right, D.” She took in a shuttering breath. “I can feel it.” Mel was always so strong, handling club life like she was born to do it. Seeing the tears streaming down her face hit me deep in the gut, and at that moment I knew what I needed to do. Stone was our brother, and we would search through Hell to find him.
My jaw ticked as I sent off a text to Loch filling him in. Alarm bells were going off in my head.
“I’ll go look for him. You sit. Stay calm. Okay?” She gave me a nod but I could tell she didn’t really hear what I had said. “Be strong. Those kids need you calm. I’ll find him, Mel. Won’t rest until I do.” I tightened my arms around her once more before heading out of the house.
I hated seeing her like that. I fucking hated leaving her and the kids alone. And more than anything, I hated the feeling shaking me deep inside that I was in someway going to fail her and the club.
I sat on my bike staring up at the black sky as I called Bocca. He answered with a groggy greeting.
“Stone is missing. Check security cameras. Tank said he was heading to the garage a bit ago. I’m headed there now,” I said.
“Okay, call you if I see anything,” He said sounding more alert.
I disconnected the call and quickly shot off a text to Tank and Loch telling them to meet me at the garage, then I sped off. The town was small enough; it only took me five minutes to get there. The place had been closed down hours ago. The lights were still off and nothing looked out of place. The cars in the bays, right where I’d left them. I checked the door and it was still locked. I heard the rumbled of Tank and Loch’s bikes tearing down the road. I turned just as they pulled in.
