Page 88 of Lost Soul

“Probably not,” I tell him honestly.

“Okay, then. The first thing you can do is find that file and fucking bury it back wherever the fuck you dug up from,” he says. “If Chop goes into a federal prison, Skid’s never gonna get the chance to make him pay. He’ll sit safely behind prison bars, and now that we know that his loyalty level is a solid zero, I’m a hundred percent certain that he would rat and take us all down for the promise of an easy sentence.”

It makes perfect sense. So, I grab my laptop and set to work, but not before saving the files to my computer first. What he’s done to those other women shouldn’t be forgotten about, and I’ll make sure justice is served for them too.

It doesn’t take me long to make the files disappear, once I’m in it’s just a matter of wiping him from their system. I put in a request to close down the warrant for arrest using the name of a judge from Utah, and cross my fingers that might work. Now all that’s left to do is to find him.

“I could do with getting information from the guys, anything small could help,” I tell Jessie, as he tucks into his enchiladas.

“Sure,” Jessie nods. “We can head down when you’ve eaten, most of the guys are around today.”

“I know he probably won't feel like talking, but Tommy would be a good person to talk to, he knows Chop better than anyone. He could have childhood memories of places that might help.” Tommy hasn’t been around much lately, and who can blame him after what had happened.

“Yeah well good luck with that, he’s been missing since the day Carly got killed.” Jessie sounds frustrated.

“You can’t blame him for that, Jessie. I know better than anyone what it’s like to be ashamed of something your parent does.”

“Your mama was doin' what she thought was right, she was providing for you. She didn’t kill anyone.”

I smile at his attempt to make me feel better before getting back to work.

“Mads. You remember the day of the lake party?” There’s a curiosity in his voice that tells me something more was coming.

“Yeah.” I glance up, trying to hide my smirk. I remember him kissing me in front of everyone around the lake and how we fucked on the kitchen floor, while I wait for him to explain what I should be remembering.

“You remember seeing Tommy coming outta Skid’s place?” he questions.

“Yeah... He’d borrowed his drills or something, right?”

“See, that’s the funny thing. I tried helping Skid out earlier, and he said he didn’t own a drill.”

“Skid’s a mechanic,” I laugh.

“Different kinda drills, Mads.” Jessie smirks. “Tommy said he’d been fixing up something in one of the cabins down in Slu—” he stops himself from finishing that sentence. “Tommy lied to me.”

“Tommy must have been looking for whatever it was Chop wanted… It was the perfect opportunity with everyone down at the lake. He obviously didn’t find it, and that’s why Chop had to come back himself.” Jessie nods as he takes in what I’ve said.

“You know what, darlin’? I got a real bad feeling you might be right.”

We ride down to the club on his bike, and Jessie parks up and takes my hand before leading me inside. I don’t know how the brothers will take to having a girl hanging around the club who isn’t ‘available’. Carly would hang around here sometimes, but she was Skid’s old lady. I’m… well, I don’t really know what I am, which makes things awkward.

“Hey girl,” Squealer tips his head up at me as he walks past, and Jessie puts a possessive kiss just behind my ear. I can’t help but like Squealer. The guy has a sense of humor. I wait for some kind of sexual slander, but it doesn't come, and I put that down to the stare he’s getting from Jessie.

“You good, Mads?” Troj calls over from the doorframe he’s leaning against, he winks before stepping out of the way so Jessie can take me through to the smaller bar room.

The blonde woman behind the bar greets me with a scowl that I choose to ignore, and I continue to feel her eyes burning through me when Jessie sits me down at a table.

“You’re gonna be fine, darlin’, just do your best.” He brushes away some hair from my face and plants another kiss on my temple that I really hope she sees.

One by one the brothers come in and give me any information they think might be useful. I listen to stories Chop has told them, take details of people they know that live in the towns where he’s got offenses. I circle keywords I might use in a search to find him. I get the license plate number from the car that he left the club in when the feds came, and the prepay number he had used to contact Skid a few days after he’d gone.

Hours later, I still have no leads and my head is really starting to ache.

“You look tired, we can try again tomorrow,” Jessie says, moving over to me from the bar.

“I’m fine,” I assure him. “My head just hurts when I strain my eyes. I have glasses up at the cabin, I’ll go grab them.”

“I’ll go. You’re fine here.” His eyes flick back over to the bar. “Mel, make her a coffee or summit,” he orders the feisty blonde. I hear the tut she throws over her shoulder as she makes her way over to the cafeteria and pours me out a coffee. Stomping around the bar, she slams the mug in front of me, sloshing black coffee all over the table as it lands.

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