“I found her toy boyfriend in the drawer beside her bed.” Stump waved a picture. It took Jackal a second to recognize it.
“Who’s that?” Ice turned to Jackal, expecting him to have the answer he wanted.
Jackal wondered if he expected him to know because it was his job as the club enforcer or because Jackal would have made it his business to know everything that concerned Penni.
“Train.” Jackal stepped forward, snatching the photo from Stump.
Penni was standing next to Train. The tall man had his arm casually wrapped around her shoulder. Train’s expression was carefully remote. Penni’s wasn’t. Jackal wanted to tear the picture into a million pieces. Instead, he tucked into his back pocket.
“He’s one of The Last Riders.”
“You think they could be together?” Stump asked as he took the beer Max handed him. The two men dropped onto the couch, hiking their boots onto the coffee table, carelessly dropping magazines to the floor.
“How have you kept Casey from throwing your ass out the door?” Jackal bent down to pick up the magazines, hitting the tips of Max and Stump’s boots to make the brothers lower them to the floor.
“She’d miss my dick too bad to throw me out!” Max jammed his elbow into Stump’s side.
“Maybe Penni got tired of needing batteries and decided to drive to Treepoint.” Stump jammed his elbow back into Max’s side as the two dumbass each laughed at their lame jokes.
Jackal couldn’t handle the two stupid men any longer.
Using the magazines, he began battering them as they tried to avoid the vicious blows.
Ice held Jackal back. “I don’t think so. Penni wouldn’t have left Grace so worried for her.”
“Me, either.” Jackal hated to admit it to Ice.
The last thing he wanted was to be dragged into Penni’s disappearance personally. He thought she was safer away from Queen City until his temper cooled.
A sudden thought had him coming to the perfect solution for both his and Ice’s problems.
“Call Shade. Let him find out what happened to her.”
“I thought that, too, right up until Grace told me the name of the place where she stopped for gas.”
Jackal could tell from Ice’s expression that he wasn’t happy with his answer.
“Grace said Penni was at a place called the Hay and Fiddle.”
Jackal and the brothers all stared at Ice in disbelief. Only Penni would find the one place in a million she should have never gone into. Hell, there wasn’t a Predator who would willingly walk into the den of the most bloodthirsty road bandits known to ride a bike.
Max and Stump stared at Ice then Jackal. “You’re fucked.”
Jackal stiffened. “Why am I fucked? It’s Ice problem, not mine.” He stubbornly crossed his arms.
“If the Road Kingz have Penni, they won’t give her back.” Max leaned toward Jackal as he watched his reaction. Max always came across as a cuddly teddy bear to the opposite sex, but he was the club’s pain in the ass. He loved to aggravate the brothers in every way he could. The only one worse than Max was Stump, and the evil smile curling his bottom lip had Jackal’s asshole clenching tight.
“I think we should let them have her.” Jackal shrugged. “They’ll give her back in a couple of days.”
The men both knew he was bluffing.
“Are you telling me that Hennessy can’t deal with Penni?”
Jackal still felt the bee stings on his back. “I’m telling you those motherfuckers will throw her back on our doorstep.”
4
“You hungry?”
“No.” Penni rested her bruised cheek on her knee. Curling into a ball, she tried to ignore the man standing in the doorway of the room she had been dragged into.
After the intimidating biker president had forced her into the back seat of her car, she had watched as they had used fuel from their own bikes to start the sluggish motor.
She had made sure to look out the window so she could remember the way she had been taken. That’s what kidnapping victims do, Penni had told herself despite the darkness out her window making it difficult to spot any signs she could use to find help.
“Hennessy’s not going to give a fuck if you’re hungry or not.” Cruz placed the take-out bag on the bottom of the bed she was sitting on.
Penni lifted her head to glare at the biker who had uncaringly forced her into the messy bedroom that made her skin crawl at the thought of the germs she guessed were on the filthy mattress.
She was tempted to reach out with her foot and kick the food into his face.
“I wouldn’t if I were you.”
Penni arrogantly sniffed the air as he bent over to grab the bag. Reaching inside, he pulled out a hamburger and took a large bite of the cholesterol ridden burger that had her wishing Shade and The Last Riders were there to rip out his clogged arteries before letting her dance on what was left of his heart.
“I’m not frightened of you or your men.” Penni stubbornly stuck out her chin. “A smart man would let me go.”
Cruz wiped his greasy hand on his jeans. “I’ve never been accused of being smart.”
“That’s a shocker.”
Penni included the dark man entering the bedroom into her fierce glare.
“You threatening my men again?”
She clenched her fingers on her thigh. “If you know what’s good for you—”
Hennessy’s laughter had Penni ready to jump off the bed to claw out his eyes.
“My brother and his friends are going to make you wish you had never been born.”
“Let me guess; he will come for you, and he will kill me? Does he have a particular skill that I need to be worried about?”
If the man standing at the bottom of the bed hadn’t been holding her captive, Penni would have found him very attractive. Even Lily and Grace, whom she considered her BFFs, would find him attractive, and they each had handsome men keeping them warm.
“Actually, he does,” Penni taunted. “He damn sure has more men at his back than I saw riding with you.”
Hennessy’s smile disappeared. In a split second, he was bent over the bed and over her.
Penni winced as his hand clenched her jaw. Bravely, she stared up into his eyes.
“Your brother belongs to a motorcycle club?”
“Maybe,” she spat out.
“Is that why you were at the Hay and Fiddle?”
“No. My brother wouldn’t be interested in a club like yours,” she retorted.
“What’s the name of your brother’s club?”
Penni snapped her mouth closed as Hennessy intentionally lowered his body over hers. She didn’t give in to the body braced over hers. Men pissed her off when they used that dominating bullshit.
Their eyes refused to back down from each other’s.
“She’s lying.”
Penni didn’t look his way when Cruz spoke from her side. She had no expectations of him interfering with whatever Hennessy planned to do with her.
“She’s not lying,” Hennessy stated, staring down at her. “It’s only a matter of time before I find out, anyway. I gave Apoc your driver’s license.”
Penni had seen him searching through her purse when she had been shoved into the backseat of her car. She had no intention of giving him any information on The Last Riders; she wasn’t an idiot. Thank God Shade and she didn’t share the same last name. She was sure Hennessy would eventually find out, though. Hopefully before then, she would be back home, or Shade would find out she was missing.
“Good luck,” Penni snarled. “You need to let me go before my brother finds out I’m missing, or you and your men will get seriously hurt.”
She shivered at the menacing twist of his lips.
“I can take anything your brother wants to dish out.”
“Really? He wouldn’t be your only problem.” Her cheek was beginning to sting from the pressure he was exerting on her face. She forced herself to hold still as
he settled even more weight on top of her.
“You’re just filled with surprises. You want to tell me who else will be looking for me?”
“What? And spoil the surprises?” She let her mocking smile slip to a serious expression. “Listen, I really don’t give a damn what was going down with your men. Just let me go. I’ll go home, and you’ll never hear from me again.”
“And I’m supposed to believe you?”
“Yeah, I haven’t been hurt. Why would I care about a dead biker?”
“Sorry, but that’s not going to work for me.” Hennessy eased his grip on her cheek. His touch became a caress as he trailed a calloused palm over her throat before covering the beating pulse at the base of her throat.
“Why not?” Penni had a sinking feeling she wasn’t going to like his answer.
He released her abruptly and stood next to Cruz. “Did you forget about Striker?”
Penni lowered her eyes. “What about him?”
“Don’t play games with me.” He angrily moved toward her again, but Cruz gripped his arm. Hennessy shook him off, taking several minutes to straighten his jacket.
Cruz gave her a warning nod of his to tread carefully with the man who seemed to have reached the end of his temper with her.
Penni turned to sit on the side of the bed. “I’m not playing. I told you I could recognize him.”
“See? You can help.” He brushed his leg up against hers, not letting her move away from him. “You help me, and then I can help you. If I don’t find Striker, the cartel I bought the drugs from will wipe out my club. So you can see the pussies from your brother’s pretend motorcycle club are the least of my problems.”
“What do you need me to do?” Penni asked, knowing she only needed to keep herself safe until Shade found her.
“I told you she was a smart girl, Cruz.” He kept his gaze directed on her. “All I need from you is to go for a ride.”
Seeing the surprise she made no effort to hide, Hennessy stepped back, giving her a reprieve from the forcefulness of his presence.
“It won’t be so bad. You might even have some fun.”
“You’ll let me go home when I show you Striker?”
She didn’t miss the sarcastic exchange between them that Hennessy and Cruz thought she was too stupid to recognize.
“It seems I don’t have a choice, do I?” She sighed.
“No, you don’t.”
Penni firmed her chin. She was determined to show him that he needed her until he could find Striker. “It seems we’re stuck with each other, then. I’m hungry.”
Both men were surprised at her sudden change of conversation.
“I thought you fed her.”
Cruz gave her an angry glare at Hennessy’s question. “She refused to eat, so I ate it for her.”
“I’m a vegetarian.”
“Go get her something else to eat,” Hennessy ordered then gave her a hard stare. “I have better things to do than send out my men on your errands. Next time, tell him what you want, or you’ll go hungry.”
Penni nodded, and then the men left the room without saying anything else to her.
Left alone, she was tempted to pick the lock, but she had already seen the man standing on the other side of the door when they had entered her room.
The room only held the bed and an adjoining bathroom. She had searched furtively through the drawers in the bathroom without success. There was no escape from the prison that she had been locked into. All odds of coming out unscathed were against her.
Penni did what she always did when she felt overwhelmed. Taking a deep breath, she gathered her worries into her hands then threw them out into the vastness of the cosmic wilderness. The situation she was facing seemed bleak, but Penni’s brother had faced insurmountable odds when he had been in the service. He had remained alive, not letting them steal his soul when so many men had returned without theirs. She couldn’t do any less. She was a survivor; it ran in their blood.
Penni remembered the name of the club printed on their vests. The Road Kingz didn’t know what was in store for them.
5
Jackal parked his motorcycle a few inches from the door of the Road Kingz’ clubhouse. One of the soldiers standing guard outside snapped to attention, his hand going behind his back. Not taking his eyes from Jackal, he opened the door and yelled out to someone inside the club.
Jackal tuned off his motor and waited expectantly for the shit to hit the fan. It didn’t take long before the front door was thrust open.
He lifted his hands in the air as the Road Kingz gathered in a show of force. Then Jackal carefully slid off his bike, making sure to keep his hands visible as he lowered them to his sides.
He searched the faces of the men threatening to attack any second.
“Hennessy? Since when do have to hide behind your men?” It might not have been a smart move to call him out, but Jackal didn’t have time to play the bullshit game with the rival club.
The tall, dark man easily stepped around the men standing in front of him. Hennessy’s gleaming white teeth were bared in an unwelcoming snarl.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Jackal?”
“I thought I’d come for a visit.”
The Road Kingz’ president looked at the white do-rag on his head. A mirthless smile was Hennessy’s only response. The man had always been an asshole.
“We need to talk.”
“We don’t have shit to talk about. Get your ass off my club’s property before one of my men takes that white rag and shoves it up your ass.”
“I’m doing you a solid by coming here.”
“Really?” Contemptuously, Hennessy walked around him.
Jackal didn’t move as Hennessy lifted his black leather jacket, searching for weapons. Then Jackal received no warning before there was a hard shove to his back. Managing to catch himself, he moved toward the doorway that the men had moved away from so he could enter.
Jackal scrutinized the place as he crossed the threshold of the clubhouse. Damn, his brothers didn’t know how good they had it. The Predators’ clubhouse was like the Marriot compared to the Road Kingz’.
The large room was filled with broken pieces of furniture, empty beer and liquor bottles littering every available space. The lone trashcan was filled to capacity with empty bottles scattered on the floor. Jackal pictured the lazy bottom dwellers pitching the empties, too busy playing video games and smoking joints to take out the trash.
Hennessy didn’t give a fuck about Jackal’s opinion.
“You’re not going to offer me a beer? It’s been a long drive.”
The Glock Hennessy pulled out from his back showed the large man was fed up with Jackal’s attempt at small talk.
“I’d tell you that you have five seconds to tell me what you want, but you’ve already used three of them.” Hennessy pressed the Glock to his temple. “And don’t think I don’t know why you’re here. That bitch yours?”
“Hell no.” Jackal stared him in the eyes so that Hennessy could see he was telling the truth.
“You didn’t tell me you had a sister when we were in juvie.”
“She’s not my sister.”
“So if she’s not your sister or your bitch, why are you standing in my club?”
“She a friend of the Predators’.”
“Shit.” Hennessy snorted sarcastically. “You’re lying. The Predators don’t have any friends. I can vouch for that.” He lowered his weapon, replacing it behind his back.
“Technically, she is. Ice’s old lady is Penni’s employee. Ice is worried that his woman won’t get paid since she’s not there to sign the check.”
“Don’t make me pull out my gun again. This time, I’ll shoot your lying ass.”
Jackal sighed. “Ice has gotten soft in his old age. His woman and Penni are friends. Ice doesn’t want her upset since they found out her mother’s dying.”
No hint of compassion touched Hennessy’s chiseled features. ?
??She’s not here anymore.”
Jackal arched his brow humorlessly. “Now who’s lying? I told you I was doing a solid. I didn’t take part when the Predators tossed you and DJ out of the club—”
“You didn’t step in, either, did you, brother?” Hennessy snarled.
“No, I didn’t. I would’ve if you would have been willing to cut DJ loose.”
“He’s dead.” Hennessy didn’t show any of the pain Jackal was sure he was feeling.
“Sorry.”
Hennessy shrugged. “It’s been coming for months.”
Jackal agreed. Some souls were doomed from birth. DJ had been one of them.
DJ, Hennessy, and Jackal had joined the Predators around the same time, each coming from a screwed up childhood, searching for some place to call home. Jackal had found it with the Predators. Hennessy could have, too, but he hadn’t wanted to leave DJ. DJ had nearly gotten them all killed during a buy. He had been weak, and the Predators had cut him loose. Hennessy had known DJ wouldn’t have survived without him taking his back. It seemed even that hadn’t been enough to keep him alive.
“I don’t want to butt into your club’s business, but Ice is willing to pay for her and make sure there won’t be any blowback to the Road Kingz.” Jackal didn’t know how Ice was going to keep that promise. Penni would drive to the police station as soon as she was released. The only reason Jackal hadn’t been arrested when he had kidnapped her was Shade had explained how the Predators had helped reunite Lily and her childhood friends.
“She’s not here.” Hennessy repeated. He had been the best poker player in the club when he had been a Predator.
“Penni was on the phone with Grace when her car ran out of gas.”
His face didn’t twitch at Jackal’s words.
Sighing, he nodded his head at the cell phone sitting on top of the trash can.
Hennessy furiously smashed his elbow into the face of the soldier standing next to him. “I told you to get rid of it.”
“I can see how you managed to take control of the Road Kingz,” Jackal remarked.
At one time, the Road Kingz had made bikers quiver in fear. It had been a long time since then, and most of the members had aged or ended up in prison. Before Hennessy had taken over, the Predators would have struck the Road Kingz’ clubhouse and stolen her back before they would have been able to retaliate. However, Hennessy being there made it more difficult.