Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 84471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84471 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 422(@200wpm)___ 338(@250wpm)___ 282(@300wpm)
“Sorry babe. We're heading straight there.”
Wonderful. I hesitate for a moment, but then just shrug and flip the sheets aside. They've all seen me naked. I pull everything on and run my fingers through my hair, and then we're out the door. I have to admit that I never imagined I'd make the walk of shame to Hellfire's office. For not being in trouble, this feels really ominous.
As we enter the church through the side entrance, Dragon comes jogging to join us from the garage. He's shirtless, and there are oil stains on his jeans and his side, right next to his six pack. “What’s going on?”
“Hellfire wants to talk to Willow.”
Dragon frowns. “Count me in.”
“Come,” Hellfire snaps when we knock on the door.
Skyhigh leads the way, while Blackout and Dragon follow behind me like an honor guard. It makes me feel better. At least a little.
The room is still full of massive wooden furniture from when it was the sacristy, but it’s clearly been an office for quite a while. Bonnie is there waiting for us. She smiles reassuringly when I come in which makes me feel a little better.
Hellfire acknowledges us with a nod. “Sit.”
I take a chair next to Bonnie, feeling safer with her at my side. Skyhigh sits across from me while Blackout and Dragon choose to stand, leaning their backs to the wall.
“Okay, what's going on?” I look around at all the serious faces. “You guys are scaring me.”
“I need you to tell me everything you know about Tanner. Why the fuck are you asking about him?” Hellfire leans back in his chair, putting his boot up on his desk and watches me under furrowed brows.
I blink. “What? Why are we talking about him?” I glance over at Bonnie.
She nods. “It’s fine, just tell him what you told me.”
“Um…” I told Tanner I wouldn't tell, but the Outlaw Sons have done a lot more to earn my loyalty than he has. “I found a box of his things in my house. It was just some old junk, like clothes and pocket watch, stuff like that, but there was a jacket with his name on it and a note with a phone number that looked like my grandmother’s writing. I called it out of curiosity and left a message. He never called me back or anything, but a couple days ago he just showed up at my house to collect his stuff.”
“Hold up. You had him in your house and you didn't fucking tell us?” The darkness in Dragon's voice sends chills racing through me. “He coulda fucking hurt you.”
“Okay, for starters, I don’t have to ask your permission to talk to people, and just to be clear it’s not like I invited him over for lunch. He just showed up.” I glare at the guys. Possessiveness can be hot, but there are limits. “He seemed a little… off, but he didn't do anything. Wanted to get his things and look around a little. He told me he used to be in the club but it got dangerous and he had to leave.” I feel a little bad saying this because they seem nice enough, but it’s what Tanner told me. “He said he had to hide out with her for a while to get back on his feet, and that when he left the club came for him. Killed his dog.”
“What the fuck?” Hellfire growls. “Nobody fucking came for Tanner and they wouldn’t have hurt his fucking dog. Clearly it ended up dead but it wasn’t us.” He draws a deep breath. “Tanner was older than me and had been around for a while when I joined. Back in the old days, the club was mostly just an excuse to fight, drink and fuck.”
I can't help myself. “Isn't that how it is now?”
Skyhigh laughs openly at that, and Blackout chuckles.
Hellfire glares at them until they shut up, then allows himself a chuckle of his own. “Yeah, but General was the one that pulled us together and wanted to get fucking organized. Maybe we're a little rough around the edges, but nothing like the chaos back then. I almost left as soon as I joined. It was intoxicating for a while, but it got old real quick. That's how I got so well along with General, 'cause we were looking for the same things. Tanner didn't like it. He was used to doing whatever the hell he wanted. He was unreliable, so when he left we didn’t give a shit.” He pauses. “The ones that mattered anyway.”
Bonnie leans forwards. “Is that what you remember? General made him choose after we lost Mercy and Hardtack. Couldn’t prove it was his fault, but he blamed Tanner for being sloppy.”
Hellfire turns, looking irritated to be surprised. “He was involved? I was still fresh off being sworn in. Nobody was sharing shit like that with me back then.”