CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE The Letter

Blood—

Monday morning I’m at the clubhouse with Shades, Ghost, and Undertaker, sitting in Shades’ office. The entire place smells like freshly cut wood and sawdust.

“We’ve got to do something about the damn Sin Squad,” Shades says, staring at his desktop and rubbing his fist like he wants to punch someone. “They’re not allowing any of us to travel through the state. That won’t cut it. I can’t lose access to Interstate 65. That’s our main route north to Chicago.”

Undertaker and I sit in the chairs across from him, and Ghost leans with his arms folded against the credenza along the wall.

“It’s a problem,” Undertaker agrees. “Maybe we have a powwow with the Head Bashers, or what’s left of ‘em.”

Shades meets his father-in-law’s eyes. “That could work. We band together, drive the Sin Squad out, and reinstall the Head Bashers with the agreement they give us complete travel access through the state.”

Ghost nods. “They still have their chapters in Kentucky. There’s one in Bowling Green we can contact.”

“Fuck that,” I say. “Maybe we just take the state and make it ours.”

Undertaker shrugs. “Blood has a point. If we’re looking to expand, maybe now’s the perfect time.”

“I don’t know. That would take a lot of men,” Shades replies.

“You’ve got a lot of men. Second generation is comin’ up quick,” Undertaker says. “You just need to put someone with experience in charge.” He looks at Ghost. “You want to start a new chapter, VP?”

Ghost makes a face. “Fuck no. I don’t want to live in goddamn Tennessee.”

Shades waves that idea off. “I’m thinking for now we go with the Head Bashers idea. If the time comes, we can either push them out or patch them over.”

Undertaker shrugs. “That’ll be up to national. Maybe we can discuss it at the meet in Sturgis in August.”

“Well, if you need a powwow with the Head Bashers, I’d make them come to us. We’re the bigger club,” I say.

“I agree,” Undertaker backs me.

Shades leans in his chair and puts his boots up on his desk. “It’s a good plan. I like it.” His phone rings, and he puts the call on speaker. “Hey, Skylar. What’s up?”

“I just got the mail.” Her voice sounds frantic, and Shades leans forward, his boots dropping to the floor with a thud.

“What’s wrong, honey?” he barks.

“It’s Rebel. She’s gone.” Skylar’s sobs are audible through the phone.

“What do you mean she’s gone? Calm down, babe.” He checks the time. “She should have opened the shop an hour ago.”

Undertaker leans forward, concern apparent on his face for his daughter’s distress.

I knew shit was going to hit the fan today. I’m just glad I’m here to help calm Shades down when he loses his mind over what he’s about to hear.

“The letter says she’s gone to California.”

“Letter? What letter?” Shades barks.

I drag a hand down my jaw, and my eyes connect with Undertaker’s.

His brow lowers, immediately picking up my signals. “You know about this?” he mouths, and I nod.

Skylar continues. “She wrote me a letter. It’s postmarked Friday. It says she’s gone to see that boy, the one she’s been heartsick over. She told me she was spending the weekend with her girlfriends. I was so happy that maybe she was finally back to her old self. She’s been down in the dumps since that boy left town. I’ve been heartbroken for her. Now she’s gone after him, Shades.”

“Fucking hell. I’m gonna kill her,” Shades growls.

Undertaker holds his hand out. “Let me talk to her, son.”

“Sky, your father wants to talk to you.” Shades turns the phone over to his father-in-law and surges to his feet, pacing. “If that boy lured her out there, I’m going to pull him limb from limb, goddamn it.”

“I’m sure she’s fine,” I say, and Shades whirls on me.

“Oh, you are, huh? What would you know about it?” He says it off the cuff, pacing some more, then stops dead and turns back to me, his eyes like lasers. “What do you know about it?”

I hold my hands up and stand. “It’s not what you think, brother. I tried to talk her out of it and—” Before I can finish my sentence, he’s got two fistfuls of my cut and slams me to the wall, getting right in my face.

“Tell me what you goddamn know, Blood!”

I hold my hands up, and not because I couldn’t take him. I absolutely could. But because I know he’s a father totally freaking out that his daughter is not where she’s supposed to be. “She was already packed and ready to go when I rolled up at the garage. Then the Uber pulled up and—”

“Uber? What Uber?”

I shove him off me. “The one that took her to the airport.”

“And you didn’t fucking stop her?” His palms hit my chest, shoving me a step, and I shove him right back.

Undertaker jumps between us. “Knock it off, both of you!” He stares down Shades. “Let the man finish.”

Shades stalks away. “Fine.”

I exhale a long sigh. “She’s a grown woman, Shades. I know you may not like hearing that, but it’s the truth. She loves the boy, and there’s nothing you can do about it. She’s got to figure life out for herself.”

“Oh, really? There’s nothing I can do about it? Watch me.” He yanks his phone out of Undertaker’s hand. “Skylar? Book us two plane tickets to San José or anywhere close. Whatever gets us there the quickest. And pack a bag. We’re bringing our daughter home.”

“This is all your fault, Shades,” she snaps.

“What did you say?” he replies.

“You know exactly what I mean. If you hadn’t run that boy off, she’d still be here. Your problems with his father have nothing to do with Brayden. And if it takes you making up with Cole to fix this, then that is exactly what you’re going to do.”

“You don’t have a clue what problems are between me and him.”

“I was there, Shades. I know the animosity you feel. I know you hold him responsible for everything that happened to me. But that was decades ago, honey. You need to let it go.”

“There are a lot of things you don’t know, Sky. Things that have happened recently. He’s disrespected me for the last fucking time.”

“I don’t give a damn about any of that, do you hear me? I don’t care if he hurt your damn feelings. You make this right. I’m not losing my daughter over some feud you’ve got with this boy’s father. End of story, Shades.”

“Book the damn plane tickets and pack a bag. I’m sending Ghost to come get you.”