Page 72 of Lost Soul

“I better head back in,” I whisper to Jessie, nearly drawing blood from my bottom lip when I bite at it.

Jessie’s grin doesn’t drop as he mounts his bike and starts it up, the ground beneath me rumbling as more bikes roar to life. I stretch the T-shirt down as far as I can and rush back inside for a shower.

It surprises me how quick the morning goes. I grab my laptop to have a look into Tobias Saunders a little more. Yeah, Prez said I didn’t have to, but I still want to help the club out if I can. It’s the least I can do after all the trouble I’ve unwittingly caused for them.

I start with an easy hack into the local county, search his name but come up short. So I search the compound address, and freeze when I read that a warrant to search the club has been issued by a state judge just this morning. I pick up the phone Jessie got for me to call and warn him. Imagining all the things lying around here that could get them into trouble.

There’s no answer, and I keep trying as I slip on my sneakers and rush out of the cabin. My heart is thumping against my chest the whole way down to the club. I don’t know what the feds will be searching for, but I’m certain that if I don’t get a warning to Jessie they’ll find it. And if they do, it could mean Jessie doing time.

I forget all my manners when I burst through the doors of the club and called out for Jessie in the foyer.

Silence. Nothing.

I take the left door into a small lounge-like bar but it’s empty, so I dash into the right one swing the door open and knock straight into solid man muscle.

“Whoo, black betty.” The guy with a bald head, who fucks women against trucks, holds on to both of my arms.

“I need… to speak to… Jessie,” I fight the words out as my chest grasps at air.

“Calm down, I can take you to him,” he tells me. I let him lead me out the club and towards the chapel at the bottom of a small cobbled path, and when we reach the double oak doors he taps his tattooed knuckles loudly against the wood.

A mumbled voice inside responds, and he opens it halfway.

“Jessie your bitch is here. Seems urgent.” I hear scraping wood followed by hard footsteps. The door swings wider, and I manage to get a peek inside. It isn’t a regular chapel, there are no pews, but instead there’s a huge wooden table that Hayley’s Dad sits at the head of. Other than him it’s just Jessie in the room.

“You okay?” Jessie grabs at my shoulders and holds me out, examining me. As tempting as it is to melt into his arms, I need to get this out… and fast. They could already be on their way.

“There's a warrant,” I stop to catch air. “Issued this morning, to search this place.”

“Issued by who?” Jessie asks like he doesn’t quite believe me.

“Judge Jackson. For the Feds… I was looking into Tobias, thought I’d start with the county files, and when I glanced through most recent it flagged up.”

“Jackson,” Prez’s voice comes from behind Jessie.

“Yeah, sir?” I watch him step around Jessie.

“Jess, Tac, get as much manpower down here as you can pull together, we’ll clear the vestry and get Nyx and Skid on the fuckin’ road as fast as possible.”

“Sure thing boss.” Jessie nods. “Good work.” He leans in and kisses me on my cheek before he rushes off with his phone pressed to his ear. Prez nods his head at me to show his appreciation too.

“There anything I can do to help?” I ask.

“You’ve done enough. Head up home Maddy… and thanks,” he adds the words thoughtfully. I half smile at him before I make my way back up to the cabins, then I go straight round to Carly’s to explain over an iced tea what’s happening.

“Mads, that’s gonna go a hella long way with Prez.” Carly places the iced tea on the table in front of me when I’ve finished telling her.

“So… you’ve saved the day… great. Now let’s talk about the important shit like what happened down on the beach yesterday.” She looks intrigued, and I fill her in, watching her shocked face as I reveal way more details then I intended.

“You know what this means don’t ya?” she says, sitting back and crossing her arms. My head shakes in confusion. “You’re Jessie’s old lady,” she tells me, hardly able to contain her excitement.

“Let’s not run before we can walk.” I smile trying not to match her enthusiasm, although crazy as it sounds… I like the thought of it. I’ve never had anyone care about me the way he does. Then suddenly I remember something else about yesterday.

“Hey, you asked me for a favor yesterday. I totally forgot.” I feel awful after all the things Carly’s done to help me since I’ve been here. How had I forgotten that she needed me for something?

“It’s nothing really. It’s just when the guys cleared out Chop's lodge they found this chest full of old paperwork and stuff, there were some cute photos of Chop and Skid when they were younger, and then I found this…” She disappears into her bedroom, coming back moments later with a wooden trunk that she places on the table. She opens it up, shifts through some papers, then pulls out a USB stick.

“I wondered if we could have a look at it on your laptop?”

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