CHAPTER TEN

– LEONTINE –

I yawn and stretch my arms over my head. Dammit, I was sleeping nicely until the warmth surrounding my body left. Even if I didn’t get enough sleep, I feel refreshed and ready to face the day. I swing my legs off the mattress and wander into the bathroom to handle my business and take a shower.

My mind goes over everything while I wash my hair and my body. Presley was murdered and shoved in the trunk of a car, hidden by bushes at the end of the street. I still don’t like the thought of Pax being involved in all of this.

I know a serial killer has different faces and to the outside world it’s just another friendly person you pass on the street, your next-door neighbor, colleague, friend, lover, whatever…but I’ve known Pax for years. He doesn’t fit the profile.

Now Presley, on the other hand, I did stumble onto a couple of red flags when I dove into his background. Peter also had red flags. I didn’t think of the possibility of serial killers exchanging notes, pictures, or whatever. Makes me wonder if the person Peter sent those photographs of me to is out for revenge.

Maybe that’s why he picked a random woman to kill and give her the exact same scars I have. To draw us out? See if we show up and follow us, waiting to take revenge? Presley could have easily been a target because Veloz and I were working the case. If this killer had eyes on us, he would be aware of both Pax and Sully working with me and Veloz.

Pax would simply be set up, and Sully or Veloz could be next. Hell, even me if I walk out there alone. Shit. Sully and I went for ice cream together. They told me not to go out alone but since Pax did, Sully could head out alone now as well. My twin. Asher, was I talking to him outside of the clubhouse the past few days? Could someone have seen us? How much information could this killer have?

My mood has gone to shit when I step out of the shower and quickly dry off to throw some clothes on. I need to get behind my laptop, either here or head for the clubhouse, and find Bee so we can go over things together. My phone is on the bedside table and as soon as I’ve turned it on a flow of texts and missed phone calls slide over the screen.

I notice the time and open the recent one which happens to be a text from Veloz. He’s letting me know that he’s in a meeting with Archer, and will come home to update me as soon as he’s done. I guess that explains all the missed calls from Archer.

Shoving my phone into my pocket, I wander into the hallway and follow the scent of fresh coffee until I’m in the kitchen. Sadly, the coffee pot is empty. Turning, I decide to grab my stuff and go to the clubhouse, but I bump straight into a hard chest.

“Whoa there, beaut, where’s the damn fire?” Sully chuckles and gently squeezes my shoulder as he takes a step back.

“In my ass,” I tartly reply. “There’s no coffee and I need it. I’m heading for the clubhouse, you? You’re not going out alone are you?”

Sully’s hair is wet and from the looks of it, he just came out of the shower and is dressed to go somewhere.

“Well, Pax and I were supposed to meet up and go over the case again. I haven’t been able to reach him. So, I guess I’m going to swing by the coroner myself.”

“The coroner?” I frown. “Why?”

Sully shrugs. “I want him to walk me through his autopsy report, maybe take the body out of the freezer and point out a few things. Pictures sometimes aren’t enough.” He tilts his head. “You saw the body, right? No hesitation marks on any of the wounds? All injuries were the same as yours?”

I swallow at the reminder and give him a tight nod as I brush past him. “Yes. I’ve already mentioned this.” Grabbing my bag, I shove my laptop in there and grab my keys from the table. “Oh and Sully? If you do go out? Take a prospect with you. I don’t think any of us should go out by ourselves.”

Sully chuckles. “You’ve got a high-protection warning label on you, beaut, not me. Besides, I can handle anything or anyone who comes at me. Be sure to tell your old man I wasn’t the one who woke you. The fucker even gave me a warning to let you sleep. See? I’m not the one being coddled, you are.”

I flip him off. “You’re just jealous ’cause you would be nicer if you had someone who’d pamper and spoil you.”

He grabs his junk and states, “This part of my body only needs pampering in the sense of a tight, wet, and warm pussy. No other clingy stuff.”

I wrinkle my nose. “You’re disgusting.”

With a huge grin, he states, “Don’t be a prude, I know you give those kinds of hugs to your old man.”

I can feel my cheeks heat and shove my shoulder against his when I move past him. “I repeat, you’re disgusting.”

“Single, Leontine. I’m single and accept hugs from all women.”

I narrow my eyes when I glance over my shoulder and he quickly holds his hands up. “No fucking way. Yikes. You’re my sister, not to mention, you have an old man. Okay, so…not all women.” Wincing he mutters, “Let’s end this discussion. I need more coffee. Hell, I might switch to hard liquor if this is a day for any discussions to derail.”

“Go to the coroner, Sully. You’ll be safe there from derailing discussions and hugs.”

He’s still wincing and grumbles under his breath, “I might be a twisted fuck, but I’m definitely not into necrophilia. Fucking hell, I need to go back to sleep and have a do-over this morning.”

I’m still grinning when I step inside the clubhouse and notice Bee standing in the kitchen getting some freshly brewed coffee by the looks of it.

“Hey, you’re up,” she quips and holds up the coffee pot. “Want some?”

“Definitely.” I reach for the cabinet and grab one of the mugs to hold it out to her.

“Come on, we’re gonna sit in church for some privacy. Loads of developments and I’ll get you up to speed.”

I follow her out of the kitchen, both of us have our bag and a mug in hand when I wonder out loud, “Aren’t Archer and Veloz in church? Veloz texted me that he had a meeting.”

She closes the door of church behind us and we both place our laptops on the table.

I’m caught off guard when she suddenly grabs me in a hug. “I’m so damn happy for you. Archer told me Veloz claimed you, and Lynn couldn’t stop rattling about it. Hell, I think the woman was drunk on happiness with the news of her new granddaughter being born, and you becoming an old lady.”

I’m grinning when I ask, “Everything okay with the new princess, and with Linnette?”

“Yes, everything went well. You should check your messages. Lynn completely spammed it with baby pictures. That woman is on cloud nine with her mission to form a female motorcycle club, and now with a baby girl being born? She wants her to take the crown and become queen instead of her brother. Hilarious, really.” Bee chuckles and takes a seat.

I take the one next to her. “Never a dull moment when it comes to Lynn. At least it keeps her busy and not getting shot or harmed in any way. Both her and Deeds handled enough cases, bullets, scars, and trauma. They deserve these missions. Well, I did need to mention to her that I won’t be popping out kids any time soon.”

Bee groans. “Don’t even mention popping out kids. I still have a few months to go with this one, while I have two already. I don’t even know what we’re having yet. Doesn’t matter, though. Queenie can be the president of an all-female motorcycle club while Hunter takes over this one when the time comes. Hell, I think at this point Archer might share his mother’s need to fill up a whole damn MC with a third generation.”

I fire up my laptop and try to keep a straight face when I tell her, “Glad you have everything covered.”

“Wait till Veloz gets the need to put a baby inside you, then we’ll talk some more,” she warns.

I feel a smile slide across my face. “We share the same mindset of waiting. We’re enjoying the now where we’re focusing on us first.”

“Smart choice, especially with what’s going on. Okay. I’ll give you a quick rundown of the facts we’ve learned.” Bee starts to rattle and my eyes widen to the point where I’m not sure they’ll stay in their sockets.

“You’re kidding me, right?” I squeak.

“Nope. Pax is either being set up or was taken out when the killer saw him stumble onto Presley’s car, and with it his body.” Bee turns her laptop and shows me a video. “Veloz thought he was innocent but still punched him in the face. I’m not adding sound, but your old man did threaten him and called him a variety of names. Pax’s facial expressions are also telling us he’s not involved.”

“Where’s Pax now?” I wonder.

“Archer, Chopper, Asher, and your old man took him to Blennies Hitch’s clubhouse. I have no clue what they’re doing or what the plan is. For now, we just keep you safe here on lockdown. Your father didn’t get anything else from the phone or any information about who Peter might have been in contact with. Oh, and we’re still waiting on some of the evidence being processed and I should have the preliminary autopsy report of Presley within a few hours.” Bee glances over her laptop at me. “I asked Archer if we should shove these cases into one, mainly because Presley is dead, and that case is basically closed now.”

“Except for motive,” I muse. “Well, it’s safe to say with the details I managed to expose that Presley used Veloz so he could start over. If someone didn’t kill Presley, we would have taken him out anyway.”

“Yes, and Presley became evidence in a murder case.” Bee sighs.

“The one of the murdered woman with similar injuries as mine, which automatically links to Peter’s case that’s closed.” I wince. “Yikes, Archer must not be happy with a closed case being involved.”

“Archer isn’t happy period. I mean, can you blame him? A body down the street from the clubhouse? Of a person of interest in a case we were working on, and you…a victim of another case. Pax is thrown into the mix. All of it sounds close to home, but we’ve managed to clear Pax and yet we still have no damn suspect.” Bee leans back in her chair. “How the hell is that possible?”

“It’s still early in our investigation and the way it took a spin by pulling in a different case, Presley, and the focus on us makes it harder. Hey, did you check Pax’s new tracker and compare it to the cell tower of the burner phone? It should also clear him, right?” I click on the program which allows us to get the data off any tracker inside every member of Broken Deeds.

“I just used it to get his exact location,” Bee states and answers her phone which starts to ring.

I keep myself busy with filling out the day I was taken and move to the button that would select a tracker of a member. My attention is diverted when I hear Bee’s concerned voice.

She gets to her feet and tells me, “Your mom is babysitting both Hunter and Queenie at my house. They both have a stomach bug and Queenie is being a drama queen. I’m going to head over to calm her down. Stay here and I’ll be right back.”

I wave her off. “Take your time, I’m not going anywhere.”

Bee rushes out of the clubhouse and I direct my attention back to the screen in front of me. Shit. Instead of selecting Pax’s tracker, I clicked on the “select all” button. The data is still coming in. I can either run it again or scroll down.

Well, I guess I have the time to…that’s weird. I glance over the odd information I just stumbled onto when there’s a knock on the door.

“Hey,” Sully quips as he steps into the room. “Do you have a moment to help me out with something computer related? I asked Bee when I almost ran into her walking out the clubhouse, but she told me to ask you since Ganza is busy and I can’t get a hold of Chopper.”

His gaze slides to my screen. I quickly shove my laptop shut and abruptly get to my feet. “What do you need?”

“Well.” He slides his fingers through his hair and steps back. “I have a theory I’d like to research. I could do it myself if I could get my laptop to fucking work.”

“What’s wrong with it?” I nervously glance at my laptop.

Sully is Broken Deeds MC and it wouldn’t matter if he sees information on my computer. Except, in this case, I have details on my screen I don’t want to share with anyone yet. Especially Sully. Hell, I need to make sense of it myself before I so much as let my mind process that shit.

“Dunno.” He shrugs. “I’m no expert. I did bring it with me, though. It’s on the counter. Want me to grab it?”

So many things are going through my mind right now. Why isn’t Veloz here, or anyone else for that matter? Ugh. It’s still early and most are still sleeping or out on a job, like my old man.

I push through my scrambled emotions and take a deep breath. I’ve known Sully for over half my life.

“Are you okay?” Sully asks, concern washing over his face. “If this isn’t a good time, don’t worry about it. I’ll write down some notes and ask Ganza to look at my laptop later.”

He gives me a warm smile and turns to walk over to the counter and grabs his laptop. Dammit. My brain is fried and I’m imagining shit that doesn’t make any sense at all.

“Wait up.” I rush out of church and take the laptop from him. “I’ll take a quick look.”

“Thanks.” His eyes go over my shoulder and I can tell by the way his eyes widen that something is shocking him.

I’m about to turn to see what it is when I hear Sully grunt, “No, Pax, don’t.”

Spinning around, I feel a sharp sting in my neck. I try to whip my head around and catch Sully lunging for something that’s past me while at the same time he’s aiming his gun at something. I start to feel woozy and whip my head to the other side of the room to glance at what Sully is aiming for, but my body is working against me.

I have no idea what’s going on and panic is flooding my veins along with something that’s dragging me down into the darkness I fear so damn much.